Hussey feels India should score big totals to put pressure on England in the Test Series

“It should be a fantastic series. India has a great chance of doing well. It has a good team playing good cricket. It has been in England for over a month now and would have got acquainted with the conditions and the Duke ball,” said the 43-year-old. That India is playing in the second half of the English summer should play into its hands, feels Hussey. 

“One more advantage for India is that it is playing later in the summer. Indian spinners will definitely play a major role. The weather, which is currently hot and dry, should help India if it stays that way. Scoring big runs will hold the key for India. That will put pressure on England which is a great team in its own backyard,” added the Western Australian. 

Asked about the impact the much talked-about and much feared duo of Anderson and Broad could have on the visiting side, Hussey said despite them having seen better days, they can’t be written off. “You can underestimate Broad and Anderson at your own peril. They are capable of producing their A game any moment and always pose a threat,” shared Hussey. 

If there is one country where the jury is still out on Virat Kohli’s credentials as a batsman par excellence, it is England where he had a forgettable series in 2014. For someone who has scored runs by the truckload, and vowed the spectators across the cricketing globe but for England, Kohli will be desperate to get that monkey off his back.

“The experience of last tour should help Kohli. It’s unfortunate that he couldn’t fulfill his county commitments with Surrey due to injury. He will be determined to do well this time. If he gets his confidence up and spends time in the middle, he will be hard to stop. He is a class act and watching him in full flow is a delight,” observed the 2007 World Cup winner.

With Kuldeep Yadav currently being the blue-eyed boy of captain Kohli on the back of some superlative performances in the shorter formats, should he now be preferred over Ashwin in the longer format as well? Not quite, said Hussey. “Personally, I feel Ashwin, who has more than 300 Test wickets, should play ahead of Kuldeep. Ashwin deserves his place in the team. He can be effective while bowling to left-handed batsmen. Although Kuldeep has made a case for himself, I feel Ashwin should be a certain starter,” opined Hussey.

According to Hussey, what could be detrimental to India’s chances, at least in the initial phase of the series, is the absence of the pace duo Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, who are recovering from injury. “Their absence will definitely be felt. I feel Umesh Yadav will step up although he has had a start-stop career. He now has a better understanding of his game. Mohammed Shami, if he stays fit, can trouble the batsmen too,” remarked Hussey. 

Hussey has high hopes on his onetime opening partner at CSK, Murali Vijay. “Vijay is extremely motivated to do well in England. He has been preparing mentally for this series for a long time. It was nice to see him get a half-century in the tour game. He is willing to work things out for himself in the middle. For India to do well, it’s important that he does well at the top and get the team off to good start,” mentioned Hussey. This is one series that has attracted considerable amount of interest and Hussey hopes it will live up to that promise.