Leeds: A psychological battle is already on between England and India ahead of the final Test at Oval that will decide the current series.

Out marshalled and outmanoeuvred by the Indians, England's highly-rated captain Nasser Hussain lost no time after the visitors' series-levelling win to play psychological games.

"India are under pressure to win at The Oval and they would be desperate if we win the toss and put runs on the board. It would be a real blow to them," Hussain said after India's innings and 46-run victory in the third Test here on Monday.

Saurav Ganguly promptly hit back telling the rival captain, "When India plays at home, there is pressure on India. When India plays abroad, then also the pressure is on India."

The two captains have been engaged in on and off the field verbal duels ever since England toured India earlier this winter. However, on Monday, they also took turns to pat each other's backs.

While Ganguly said Hussain's century in England's second innings was a "great Test hundred", the England captain believed India's performance in this Test should put an end to questions over their ability to play on fast and bouncy tracks.

"There has been criticism about their ability on seaming and bouncing wickets but they played exceptionally well here," Hussain said about the Indians.

Ganguly also wanted an end to such criticisms and said his side had not been given credit for the successes it had achieved in the last one and a half years.

"I sometimes find it surprising we don't get credit for our wins. Whether at home or abroad, at least we are a side that is consistently winning," said Ganguly.

At least, Hussain was ready to give Indians the credit. "Indians deserve credit for the way they played in this Test. It was almost a perfect match for them," he said.

Hussain also sought to play down the issue of excessive appealing by the Indians, saying he believed it was done in good faith.

"That's the way the Indians play their cricket. That's the way they have always done. You can see by the crowd, by the people and the people reporting on the game. They are all very excitable about the game."

"But I think they do it without malice. They are just excited as can been seen by their victory celebrations, "Hussain said.

Dravid, who was adjudged the man-of-the-match, himself was quite modest in his hour of glory but he too agreed with the assessment that this was one of his better knocks.

"Yes, in terms of end result, along with my 180 against Australia at Kolkata last year, this one would be one of the better ones I have played," he said.

Ganguly also referred to that historic Test against Australia, saying that victory was "more satisfying" than the current one.

"This is one of those rare Tests where we have dominated all the five days but the win at Eden Gardens was more satisfying because we won after following on in the first innings," he said.

Hussain said the failure of his seam bowlers in friendly conditions was a cause of concern but said the team will have to take "collective responsibility" for the defeat. "After Auckland (in the series against New Zealand earlier this year), Trent Bridge and now, it is the third time we haven't bowled well on friendly wickets," he said.

"But we have to take collective responsibility rather than point fingers at bowlers. We are bigger than that. In professional sport, it is not how you played but how you react to how you played that's important," he said.

Hussain refused to blame excessive cricket for the team's lacklustre performance. "We shouldn't be complaining about weariness. Indians have played a lot of cricket as well."

"This batting line-up we are playing against, they were going to click at some stage. They all average above 50 in Test cricket and don't do it by nicking in the slips," Hussain said.