Former Australian batsman Mike Hussey today said India has a very good chance to record a maiden Test series win on Australian soil later this year. India will face a weakened Australian batting line up in the absence of David Warner and Steve Smith when the sides clash for four tests in December-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 event in Bengaluru.
Warner, Smith and Cameron Bancroft have been banned for their role in the ball tampering scandal in South Africa. Hussey, however, believes the Indian batsman still have their work cut out or them when the Australian bowling line up is lead by Mitchell Starc, who is capable of firing bounce and extreme pace.
"If Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon are fit and and firing, India will have to work hard for runs. Australia have an excellent bowling attack," he said.
Quizzed over the dropping of Cheteshwar Pujara from the Indian playing side against England in the ongoing Edgbaston Test, Hussey says that this move shows how truly strong the Indian batting line up is.
"The dropping of Pujara from the squad for the first test (against England) is real good sign of strength for India. It suggests the India is a good side with strong battling lineup," he said.
Hussey also said that Lokesh Rahul might have got into the playing 11 because of solid form, which is even better than Pujara.
"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.
When asked how he managed to overcome down patches in his career, Hussey explained he took tips and pointers for keeping balanced from captains like Ricky Ponting and India's M.S Dhoni because they are not overly emotional players.
"Both Ricky Ponting and MS Dhoni -- they are very much balanced players. When things are going down and moving up, they keep themselves in small range. They are not emotional people and that rubs on rest of the team," he said.
