Former Australian Cricketer and one of the potential candidates for the Indian coach’s job Michael Hussey has warned other teams against underestimating India after their two-nil Test loss against Australia and said that the Indian team has the capability to go the distance in ICC World Cup 2015.
Hussey said:
“The big positive for India is that they have already been in Australia for the last two months. They are now well versed with the conditions here, the pace and bounce of pitches. They also have a tri-series coming up involving England. So they have a good run before the World Cup starts and nobody should underestimate them because of the Test results.
“Don’t read too much into the 2-0 scoreline because not only did India compete hard in the Test series but they are a completely different outfit in limited-overs. They are very confident in that mode.”
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When asked about India’s performance in Tests, Hussey said that their batting lineup did very well but their bowling lacked discipline. Hussey also expressed that India should persist with Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Mohammad Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar as this tour would have provided them a good exposure to do well in the future overseas tours.
“Well the batting has completely changed and they have done well. Virat Kohli is a fantastic player and he has just scored runs by the heaps. I think this will continue for him going forward,” said Hussey, who was part of the Australian team during India’s 2011 tour.
“But then there have been others too, like Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane, giving support to Kohli. Something like that was missing in the 2011 tour. Not to mention they have been able to unearth a talent like KL Rahul. It is quite an achievement for a youngster to come to Australia and get a maiden Test ton.
“I dare say that this Indian attack looks better than the one in 2011 and they are all good bowlers individually. But there is a difference between being a good bowler and bowling good. And they have bowled poorly, lacking in discipline throughout the series. However I also do believe that this series will serve as great exposure for them and they can learn a lot from this tour for the future,” Hussey added.