Michael Hussey is back to where he belongs. Mr Cricket continues to share his deep bond with Chennai. He is back in the city as a commentator for Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2017. For many years, Hussey has donned the Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) yellows and has played a lot under the leadership of MS Dhoni. He shares a close relation with the former Indian captain, and a couple of years back it was speculated that he even maybe eyeing a stint as a coach of Team India. In a recent interview, Hussey drew parallels between Virat Kohli and Ricky Ponting’s captaincy style and also spoke about his good mate Dhoni. ALSO READ: MS Dhoni, AB de Villiers still have lot to offer, feels Lance Klusener
“I have always enjoyed Kohli’s captaincy. He has got this great will to win and I can see parallels of Ricky Ponting’s captaincy in Kohli. Ponting was always hungry for success and would keep pushing his team. MS Dhoni was a wonderful captain and it was always going to be a challenge for Kohli to fill Dhoni’s big shoes. But the good thing about Virat is he did not want to follow Dhoni’s methods. He has been his own man and led the side in his own way. He has been true to his own personality.
“India have been through the period of transition. But now, the team is a settled unit. These are exciting times for Indian cricket. The players believe in their captain and everyone has the same approach. Obviously, there will be challenges (overseas series) along the way and not only the captain but the players will also be tested,” Hussey said in an interview to Cricbuzz.
‘Dhoni deserves to go on his own terms’
After the semi-final loss in the World T20 2016, Dhoni, the then captain, famously called an Australian journalist to the podium in press conference and expressed his desire to play the 2019 World Cup. However, Dhoni’s waning finishing skills have hurt India in the recent times, and there are raised eyebrows as not many think that the celebrated wicketkeeper-batsman can make it to the event in England.
Hussey has different views though and believes the former captain deserves to go out on his “own terms”.
“MS deserves to go out on his own terms. If he believes he can play the next World Cup, who is to doubt him? He is a very modest and honest man. If he thinks he cannot contribute to India’s cause in the World Cup, I don’t think he will be there. At 36, he is still one of the fittest players. He knows his game and he looks after his body well. So he knows when to call it quits,” added Hussey.
Australia’s fortunes in India
Australia are slated to tour India next month to play an ODI series. They haven’t found enough success in the country and recently lost the Test series 1-2. However, Hussey feels that the IPL experience will help Australian team to excel in limited-overs set-up and they might cause an upset in India.
“India have been a frontier where we haven’t done well. I know the current team is highly motivated to win a series in India. Obviously the Ashes and World Cups are prestigious, but winning in India is a huge goal for us. The hardest thing for Australians is to adapt to slow Indian pitches. But the current players have had great exposure to Indian conditions through IPL. We played well in the last Test series in India. So this will be a great chance to create an upset,” the 42-year-old further added.
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