Hussey expects India to bounce back

Michael Hussey, whose batting and catching have played a significant role in Australia taking a 2-0 lead in the four-Test series, told the press that he expects India to “bounce back quite hard” here at Perth.

Excerpts:

On Australia's goals in Perth: I hadn't thought that far ahead. The goal is obviously to go 3-0 up. That would be an awesome achievement from the team.But it's going to be a tough Test match. India has got some great players. A lot of experience and a lot of pride. I'm expecting them to bounce back quite hard in this Test match.

On a possible clean-sweep: We haven't spoken about 4-0 at all. In Sydney we just tried to enjoy that amazing Test match ... and then basically close the door on that one and start afresh.

We start nil-all again here in Perth. We haven't thought about those results too much. But we're confident. We're playing a good brand of cricket at the moment.

On playing at home: I love the Perth Test match. The crowd here are unbelievable. The roar you get as a local player when you come out to bat or take a catch is ten times louder than for any other player. We're a very parochial mob over here. I love playing in Perth. I know the conditions extremely well as well, so that's an advantage over other players from around the country and around the world. It is a great place to play cricket.

On India's batsmen playing at Perth: I hope it's a nice, fast bouncy pitch. We play those conditions very well. It is very different to what the Indian players are used to from their home country. But having said that, they've got unbelievably experienced players who have been in Australia before, performed well in Australia before, so I expect them to adapt to the conditions pretty quickly.

On his thoughts on M.S. Dhoni's captaincy: Whether things are going well or whether things are going poorly, he keeps a very level head. I think they're real strengths of his character because when things aren't going well for the team, as we've been through in recent times, it's important to stay as tight as possible and keep believing in each other. From my experience at Chennai Super Kings, his philosophies are to remain calm, to enjoy the experience and to play the game with a smile on your face. Trust your skills and some days it comes off and some days it doesn't. It's a good way to take the pressure off the players by telling them to try to execute their skills.

On the 2007-08 Perth Test: There was obviously a lot of controversy after Sydney which I think in a way really galvanised the Indian team. They came to Perth with a real steely determination to do well after all the controversy of that Test match and maybe looking back I didn't feel at the time that it affected our team, but maybe it did a bit with all the controversy going on outside of the game. And there were some real outstanding performances in that game.It was probably the birth of Ishant Sharma, who bowled unbelievably well in that Test match. The Indians played a great brand of cricket in that particular Test match and were too good.