Stubborn Hussey sets challenge for India

FE Team | Published: October 11, 2008 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

There is a wall in Bangalore that celebrates Rahul Dravid's immovability at the crease. In the city's Chinnaswamy Stadium, Michael Hussey built an impenetrable barrier of his own with a supremely focused innings of 146 that ensured an impressive total for Australia on the second day. By the close, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir had made the visitors' 430 look a little less daunting and with a solid construction of their own reduced the deficit to 362, reports Cricinfo.
It was a promising start from the openers, particularly the confident Sehwag, but the challenge will come on the third day. India will need to make certain their own wall is reinforced and on a pitch that has held up but is threatening to crack like a dry river bed they could also use some putty to fill the widening gaps. Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma did what they could to make use of the variable surface but there is no doubt Australia had the best of the conditions by batting first.
Still, the visitors needed to put their plans into action on the field. After Ponting had led the way on the first day, Hussey followed on the second with his ninth Test century, an innings of intense concentration. It ended a record streak of low scores for Hussey, who entered the game fresh from five Test innings without a half-century, the longest such spell in his remarkable career.
He has spent the past few months insisting he was unhappy with some minor aspects of his technique but any deficiencies must have been ironed out during the Australian winter. Perhaps his least convincing shot was the one that brought him to triple figures from 188 balls, an inside-edge off Ishant that flew past the stumps for four. Hussey's landmark was a bad sign for India; Australia have won every Test in which Hussey has made a century.
His judgement was excellent. A pair of drives sailed through the off side off consecutive deliveries when Zaheer overpitched and a perfectly placed drive against Anil Kumble bisected the mid-off and extra cover, who weren't that far apart. He faced 189 dot balls, patiently waiting for chances to find gaps or hit over the top, like when he launched a safe six over midwicket off Harbhajan Singh.