Hussey's heroics put Australia in great position
October 10th 2008 23:14
India Vs Australia 1st Test Day 2 highlights
Michael Hussey describes scoring a century in his first Test innings on Indian soil as "very special" after he helped Australia build a winning platform in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar series.
Hussey is one of several players in the current Australia team with no previous experience of playing Test cricket in India.
The left-hand batsman, however, hit a career-high 146 against India, to steer Australia to a formidable first-innings total of 430 during the second day in Bangalore.
"All centuries are special but I guess India is the toughest place to play cricket for an Australian cricketer and so this is very special."
In reply India were 68 without loss as Virender Sehwag (43) and Gautam Gambhir (20) went about chasing Australia's large total in style.
The day however, belonged to Hussey, who admitted it had been tough batting in trying conditions at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, highlighted by the fact he brought his century up with an edge.
"The wicket was slow wicket with a bit of uneven bounce, there are a bit of cracks and indentations, (it is) a dry wicket," Hussey said.
"I was trying to put pressure on the opposition fielding. It was a challenge and it feels special to score.
"The field set was conducive to a lot of singles and boundaries were a little hard to come by."
"I guess it wasn't the best shots to bring up the century, but I was relieved that it hadn't hit the stumps."
Hussey strung together vital partnerships with Brad Haddin and Brett Lee to help Australia to a position of strength.
"The first 15-20 minutes of the innings was particularly tough, I guess my message to the guys coming in was to stay relaxed and stay calm for that initial period," Hussey added.
"I was particularly impressed with Lee's batting."
Indian paceman Zaheer Khan, who claimed five wickets including the wicket of Hussey, said that his side had initially looked to restrict the flow of runs in order to try and frustrate the batsman out.
"It's a slow wicket and after assessing the conditions we had worked out our plans," Zaheer said.
"Basically it was about restricting their run-flow and I think we did a very good job in doing that considering the position they were in yesterday.
"Bowling on Indian pitches is hard work but we accept and live up to that responsibility."
Zaheer said he was happy with his performance and that India's overall performance had been good.
"A five-for is always special and more so in India where the conditions (for fast bowlers) are tougher." he said.
"As a team we are happy with the intensity that we showed all through and I am happy with the overall fielding, (there is) nothing to complain about."
Zaheer remains realistic about India's chances of victory in the first Test, judging by the performances of openers Sehwag and Gambhir.
"We have had a good start from our openers and we need to build on that.
"I guess we would be batting fourth on a pitch that is expected to crack. But I don't want to get to far ahead at this time.
"We are batting at the moment and we need to focus on getting the runs."
Michael Hussey describes scoring a century in his first Test innings on Indian soil as "very special" after he helped Australia build a winning platform in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar series.
Hussey is one of several players in the current Australia team with no previous experience of playing Test cricket in India.
The left-hand batsman, however, hit a career-high 146 against India, to steer Australia to a formidable first-innings total of 430 during the second day in Bangalore.
"All centuries are special but I guess India is the toughest place to play cricket for an Australian cricketer and so this is very special."
In reply India were 68 without loss as Virender Sehwag (43) and Gautam Gambhir (20) went about chasing Australia's large total in style.
The day however, belonged to Hussey, who admitted it had been tough batting in trying conditions at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, highlighted by the fact he brought his century up with an edge.
"The wicket was slow wicket with a bit of uneven bounce, there are a bit of cracks and indentations, (it is) a dry wicket," Hussey said.
"I was trying to put pressure on the opposition fielding. It was a challenge and it feels special to score.
"The field set was conducive to a lot of singles and boundaries were a little hard to come by."
"I guess it wasn't the best shots to bring up the century, but I was relieved that it hadn't hit the stumps."
Hussey strung together vital partnerships with Brad Haddin and Brett Lee to help Australia to a position of strength.
"The first 15-20 minutes of the innings was particularly tough, I guess my message to the guys coming in was to stay relaxed and stay calm for that initial period," Hussey added.
"I was particularly impressed with Lee's batting."
Indian paceman Zaheer Khan, who claimed five wickets including the wicket of Hussey, said that his side had initially looked to restrict the flow of runs in order to try and frustrate the batsman out.
"It's a slow wicket and after assessing the conditions we had worked out our plans," Zaheer said.
"Basically it was about restricting their run-flow and I think we did a very good job in doing that considering the position they were in yesterday.
"Bowling on Indian pitches is hard work but we accept and live up to that responsibility."
Zaheer said he was happy with his performance and that India's overall performance had been good.
"A five-for is always special and more so in India where the conditions (for fast bowlers) are tougher." he said.
"As a team we are happy with the intensity that we showed all through and I am happy with the overall fielding, (there is) nothing to complain about."
Zaheer remains realistic about India's chances of victory in the first Test, judging by the performances of openers Sehwag and Gambhir.
"We have had a good start from our openers and we need to build on that.
"I guess we would be batting fourth on a pitch that is expected to crack. But I don't want to get to far ahead at this time.
"We are batting at the moment and we need to focus on getting the runs."
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