Date:08/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/08/stories/2008090857472000.htm

Sport - Cricket

‘Stay positive against Indian spinners’

Melbourne: His teammates may not fancy facing the likes of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh on Indian dustbowls but Australian batsman Mike Hussey wants his colleagues to stay positive when they arrive here for a four-match Test series starting next month. Hussey has been in consistent form in the ODI series against Bangladesh but the left-hander believes playing India at its backyard would be the toughest test of his career. The key, he says, would be to maintain a positive intent and not get bogged down by the Indian spinners. “The team that won in ’04, they said that was probably their Everest. I don’t think that’s changing. India are up there in the top two or three teams in the world and I think it’s going to be a wonderful series. It’s probably the hardest place to win in international cricket,” Hussey was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press (AAP).

Hussey says he has worked out a plan which, he hopes, would be enough to negate Kumble and Co.

“...you need to be able to tick it over, need to be able to score and put the pressure back on them a little bit. It’s important to be positive, you’ve got to know where you can get off strike. “If they’re just bowling ball after ball at you and you’re looking to survive, they’re going to get you out, there’s no question. My game is a more conservative game, playing the percentages, so I’m probably not going to be looking to do anything outlandish to put the pressure on, but I’ll certainly be looking to be positive,” said Hussey.