Michael Hussey believes India has the best chance to win a Test series against Australia later this year. David Warner and Steve Smith, two of Australia's best batsmen were punished for ball tampering scandal against South Africa and their exclusion will benefit India, said the former Aussie cricketer Hussey on Wednesday.
Team India is set to play four Tests between December to January. "I am a little worried about Australia's batting because we are missing two of our best batsmen in Smith and Warner. It is a wonderful chance for India to win its first ever Test series in Australia," Hussey told reporters at a Karnataka Premier League (KPL) event in Bengaluru.
Hussey, even after giving India an edge in the series, said the Virat Kohli and co will have to battle it out against the Kangaroo pacers on tough tracks which they are not habitual.
"If Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathon Lyon are fit and firing, India will have to work hard for runs. Australia has an excellent bowling attack," he said.
India and England are currently playing first out of their five Tests at Edgbaston. The team management decided to sit Cheteshwar Pujara out from the playing XI. Commenting on it, Hussey said it showed India is a strong team with good batting lineup.
"The dropping of Pujara from the squad for the first Test (against England) is really good sign of strength for India. It suggests India is a good side with the strong batting lineup," he said.
Hussey sees the only reason to pick KL Rahul over Pujara is his current form. "Both Pujara and Rahul are good batsmen, but sometimes a team goes for a batsman who is playing batting better than the other at a given point of time," he said.
Hussey also answered questions related to his career. He revealed how captains like Ricky Ponting and MS Dhoni helped him get over the bad patches during his career.
"Both Ricky Ponting and MS Dhoni -- they are very much balanced players. When things are going down and moving up, they keep themselves in a small range. They are not emotional people and that rubs on rest of the team," he said.
Asked about which last ear legend could have made it large in IPL, Hussey picked Gary Sobers and Vivian Richards.
"The West Indians would stand out as exciting players in IPL because they are good entertainers and enjoy aggressive cricket. Gary Sobers and Viv Richards could have been most sought-after players in the auction. Also, their fast bowling quartet would have gone for a price," he said.
