Michael Hussey says that despite a poor performance in the Melbourne Test, India are proving to be one of the better travelling sides in world cricket.
ADELAIDE: Michael Hussey says that despite a poor performance in the Melbourne Test, India are proving to be one of the better travelling sides in world cricket.
The Indians were once considered cricket's worst tourists and seemed to rely on teams falling apart on their part of the subcontinent, but times have changed, the Australian quoted him as saying Wednesday.
India won a Test series in England last year, beat Pakistan at home and has shown just how competitive they can be in the last two Test matches in Australia. Three away wins in six matches is not international domination, but it's a fair indication of improvement.
"They've got a well balanced attack. It complements each other quite well. There's some good swing bowling there, some good pace there and good spinners," Hussey said.
"It's been a very tough Test series. I know we won pretty comfortably in Melbourne, but the Sydney and Perth Tests were really tough, hard-fought games and I'm sure Adelaide will be no different.
"India have to be right up there because of the fact that they are playing so well away from home.
"You know they are going to be hard to beat in India, but they had a good result in England during the winter and now they are playing good cricket here in Australia as well. I hold them in high regard because they have that ability and the team to play well in all conditions."
Ishant Sharma, R.P. Singh and Irfan Pathan are not the most experienced bowlers around. However, Hussey said the Australians had done their homework on them and had not underestimated their ability.
"We prepare very well for whoever we are playing against and we never underestimate any bowlers around the world," Hussey said.
"If you are playing Test cricket you are obviously a very, very good bowler or a very, very good cricketer. So everyone deserves plenty of respect."
Hussey denied that Australia had a particular problem against swing bowling.
"They've got the skills to consistently swing the ball and any batsman around the world is going to find it tough against the ball that's consistently swinging," Hussey said.
The batsman arrived in Adelaide having experienced two firsts: a duck and a Test loss.
"I'd happily take a duck if we would win," Hussey said.
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