Former Australian cricketer, Mike Hussey believes that the “ability and temperament” of the Indian opener, Rohit Sharma, who according to him has the skills to prove his worth as the top order batsman during India’s tour Down Under later this year. Team India is expected to tour to Australia for a four-match Test series, starting December 3 at Gabba, Brisbane

Talking about Rohit, Hussey said, “It’s going to test any batsman in the world, but I think because he’s (Rohit) played a lot of One-Day cricket batting at the top of the order, and now he’s been having some success with the red ball game as well, that’ll give him confidence coming in. I have no doubt in my mind that he’s got the ability and the skill and the temperament, to be able to handle it.”

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The 45-year-old southpaw feels the return of the duo of Steve Smith and David Warner will make life difficult for the Indian team in the upcoming series. Smith and Warner didn’t feature in the Aussie squad when India registered historic Test series win Down Under in 2018 because of their one-year bans for their involvement in the infamous ball-tampering episode in South Africa.

Talking about the same during a chat show on Sony Ten’s Pit Stop, Mike Hussey said, “Obviously, bringing back Smith and Warner into the team is huge, but the guys that were exposed and perhaps probably weren’t quite ready at the time from two years ago, have now managed to get a number of Test matches under their belt. We know India is a world-class team, but they have to be at their best to beat the Australian team on home soil.” 

Post the sandpaper gate scandal, Hussey feels the Australian team has left no stone unturned in order to regain their respect. He also admired the way Virat Kohli respects the presence of MS Dhoni in the team and the chemistry the duo shares.

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Hussey explained, “I think you got to give a lot of kudos to Virat Kohli, having someone like MS Dhoni still in the team who’s been, arguably, India’s most successful captain. But I think that’s where you need to tip your hat to Virat and so you know he’s obviously got the personality to say ‘no, no I would like this guy around. I can learn from this guy, and he’s going to help me get down the better skipper and obviously have a better team’.”