Tag Ind-Aus-2012-News

Despite being the leading scorer for Australia in tests this year, critics have raised eyebrows over Michael Hussey's form in recent times as he collected just 83 runs in four innings against South Africa and three against New Zealand at home..

With 591 runs from 8 tests at an average of 42.21, Hussey has justified himself but his position in the team is being questioned because Aussies are panicking. Looking forward to boxing day with which 4 test match series starts against India, Hussey says he been little unlucky in last few games to receive good balls very early on in his innings and that a bit of luck will kick-start him once again.

"I feel like I'm in a good place mentally," said Hussey, who has made just 83 runs in his last seven Test innings.

"I feel like I'm batting well in the nets.

"It just goes with batting. You just sometimes need a little bit of luck early in your innings and you can go on and get a big score.

Hussey described his modest figures leading up to the Indian series as "just the way the game goes".

"We had some tough conditions to bat in in South Africa so you needed a little bit of luck to get through there," he said.

"Certainly the first couple of pitches here in Australia have been hard work for the batters as well and I haven't been able to get through that initial period."

But he said he had been concentrating on ensuring he could settle in properly when at the crease.

"That's definitely been the focus for me, to definitely work hard early in my innings and in my training - about being really tight and tough early in my net sessions.

"If you can just get through that initial period then it does get a lot easier after that," Hussey said.

Hussey also put his weight behind former captain Ricky Ponting who's under fire for not scoring a single test century in last two years. "His (Ponting's) attitude around the team has been fantastic," Hussey said. "He got a couple of really good starts in the last series and I'm sure there are a few big scores just around the corner."

Coming onto his Chennai Super Kings captain, Hussey knows a thing or two about India's skipper MS Dhoni who's famous as a calm cricketer and a brilliant man manager. “He’s a great guy to have around. He’s very calm, relaxed and takes pressure off the players. He has enjoyed great success but we would give him a very tough time in Australia,” said quipped.

Talking about Sachin Tendulkar's pending century of centuries, Hussey said his team will do everything to deny him that. “I hope he doesn’t get it against Australia. He’s been a number one player for so long, it’s a credit to his character, but I hope he doesn’t get his 100th hundred in Australia.

“I don’t think he is under any pressure though. He knows his own game so well. He has been under pressure for so long. The way the public has been with Tendulkar in India, he would be able to handle it, no problem.”

Hussey also disagreed with former Australian captain Mark Taylor that Indian batsmen could find the going tough in Australian conditions. “They have a very experienced line-up. They’ve played here before, they adapt very quickly to these conditions. They are class players and we would have to bowl extremely well to get on top of them.”

Hussey also marked out Zaheer Khan as the main threat from India and claimed the left-arm paceman would need as much watching with the new ball as he would be with the older ball. “We did focus on him in our batting plan. The bowling machine was used during training, the bowling coach Justin Langer cranked up the pace, there are two-piece balls, it swung a little bit more.

“We have seen Zaheer bowl before and know what he likes to swing. Still he is a class bowler, he’s is a threat with the new ball and when it is old. We would try to be very well prepared but certainly he’s going to be a tough challenge.”