‘Whether they win or lose, CSK remain calm and cool’ - David Hussey recalls memorable IPL stint with MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina [Exclusive]

Like his elder brother Mike Hussey, David Hussey was a late bloomer, as he made his international debut at the age of 31. Yet, the Victorian was one of the most popular T20 stars from Australia during his time. Be it his 88 off 44 against South Africa in 2009 or his 53 off just 29 against Pakistan during the ICC World T20 in 2010, he had a knack for producing explosive knocks out of nowhere. Having said that, Hussey is widely regarded as one of the greatest Australian players to not have played a Test match.

With 14,280 runs at an average of 52.50 in First-Class cricket, he would consider himself unlucky to not have played a red-ball game for Australia. Nevertheless, he is still one of the most influential figures in Cricket Victoria, and plays a huge role in their domestic structure. He was also the head coach of Melbourne Stars for a few seasons. As for the Indian Premier League, the batting all-rounder has represented Kolkata Knight Riders, Punjab Kings, and Chennai Super Kings. He even led the Punjab-based franchise for a briefly.

During an exclusive interview with CricTracker, Hussey gave his thoughts on the current Australian side, and spoke about the need to give a few youngsters a chance in the long run. The 48-year-old felt that Marcus Harris deserves to return to Australia’s Test team due to his consistent performances in domestic and County cricket. He also backed Steve Smith’s T20 record while stating that the batting maestro still has a lot to offer in the shortest format of the game. Furthermore, he gave his two cents on Smith’s decision to retire from ODIs. 

Hussey then spoke about the 2014 edition of the IPL and how he was called to replace the injured Dwayne Bravo. He spoke highly of MS Dhoni and also drew light on Suresh Raina’s peak as well as his 87 from just 25 balls against Punjab in Qualifier 2 in 2014. He also spoke about what happened in the dressing room after that match, and the discussions that took place within the CSK camp after Raina’s blitz went in vain.

Excerpts

We have the Ashes coming up, and although Australia have settled team, there have been calls to bring in new faces. Do you think Australia should try out some new blood or should they persist with the same ones? And any new faces you would like to see in the squad?

So first and foremost, it’s hard to replace the current group of players because they all perform so well. Like for example, all the bowlers – [Pat] Cummins, [Mitchell] Starc, [Josh] Hazelwood, Nathan Lyon, they are all hall-of-fame bowlers. Even Scott Boland, his record is incredible. So, it’s hard to actually get into the team and the three quicks I mentioned are just incredible. If they want to keep playing, and keep performing at that level, it’s hard to break in to that team, but I think you’ll find in the next 18 months to 2-3 years, I think you’ll find that there will be some fresh blood definitely selected, like Fergus O’Neill, he’s definitely earned the right to play for Australia with his domestic Sheffield Shield record. 

In terms of the batting, I’d like to see young players like Campbell Kellaway, Oliver Peake, Harry Dixon get a game after they have earned the right to play for Australia with good solid performances in Sheffield Shield cricket, and I think that’s where the selectors are heading.

So, I think you’d find that the first 4-5 Shield matches will determine the make-up of the Australian Ashes team against England coming up, and I hope Marcus Harris....I mean he’s still very young, still knows his game very well, had a great Country cricket season at Lancashire. I hope he gets an opportunity through the weight of runs, and I think if he does get the opportunity again, he will represent Australia with pride and dignity.

Steve Smith recently retired from ODIs to prolong his Test career. He also wants to play the 2028 Olympics, which will be 20-over format. But his ODI record is very good, and in the T20I side, Australia are more or less settled. Do you think he made a mistake in retiring from ODIs?

Well, it’s an interesting debate. Only Steve will really know what he wants to do with his cricket, and I think he has prioritised Test cricket, which is fantastic because I reckon, he’s among the top five Australia batters of all time in Test match cricket, and he deserves to go out when he wants to go out.

In terms of one-day cricket, I think Steve would have sat down with the Australian head coach and selectors and figured out a plan, a timeline – am I going to be a part of the next 50-over World Cup, and if they had have said no then well, let’s finish up and get some games into the new and younger players coming through, who could be the next foundation of Australia’s World Cup.

So, I think Steve was very selfless there, and putting Australian cricket ahead of himself, and I still think he’s got a lot to offer in T20 game. Not only his experience, but he’s also a fine, fine cricketer, especially at the top of the order. His BBL record for the Sydney Sixers is remarkable, incredible! And he just keeps improving every year, but also see, he’s got a great cricket brain. So therefore, he’s got to help a lot of people in that aspect.

As far as the IPL is concerned, you have played a lot for Punjab. In 2014, you were a part of the commentary panel, and then you were called to play for CSK as a replacement for Dwayne Bravo. If you could describe your experience with CSK, and the match where MS Dhoni made you bowl the last over. And to play with someone like Suresh Raina, who at that time was at his peak.

Yeah, they’re fond memories actually. I was commentating at that time and then I get the call “Can you come and fill in for Dwayne Bravo?” from a good friend Stephen Fleming, who’s a head coach. My brother [Michael Hussey] was playing at Mumbai Indians that year, so yeah, that was his year where he wasn’t playing for CSK family, but getting the call, I don’t know, just made me motivated to do really well for a new team... And you walk in to the dressing room and see greats like MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina. [Ravindra] Jadeja was in the room. Brendon McCullum was also in the room, [we] also had Mohit Sharma, with whom I got on really well with. [R] Ashwin as well. So, we had a really, really good nucleus of some fine players.

I remember the first game back, I think it was against [RCB] and it was on a used pitch up in Ranchi, and I didn’t bat very well, but MS gave me the ball in the last over against Yuvraj Singh and AB de Villiers [Sachin Rana], and [I was] just defending 10 runs. I was terrible, I bowled awfully and cost us the game. But what I do remember from that is... CSK family, every team they play, whether they win or lose, everything’s exactly the same. It’s very calm and cool. What can we learn from the game, where can we improve, how [are we going to] improve.

So, it was a very cool, calm, and collective dressing room, and then just spending some dressing room time with MS Dhoni, just asking him different questions about how to play certain situations. I know I was getting older at that stage and probably at the back end of my career, but he still had wonderful advice for me and something that I really pass on to the next generation of Australian players, and hopefully, I can help achieve their goals in playing for Australia or in the IPL as well…

Suresh Raina like you said before, he was at the peak of his prowess and I remember that game against Mumbai Indians in the...I think it was the Eliminator and yeah, I think my role in the team was to just get him on strike. He was seeing the ball like they were water balloons and they were huge. Every time he hit the ball, it either went for four or six. Yeah, it was an absolute privilege to play with the CSK family and some of the great players I’ve just mentioned.

In that season, the second Qualifier against Punjab, you had a huge total to chase, and Suresh Raina scored 87 in 25 balls before he was run-out by George Bailey. CSK came so near but lost a very close match. How was the dressing room atmosphere? Did Suresh Raina show any frustration?

Well, it’s hard to remember. Initially, when Raina got run-out, I think I was the incoming batter, so I didn’t see him in the dressing room. But I do remember that he was playing out of skin, and he was going to win the game by himself. It was a huge target to chase [227]. I think Sehwag got a lot of runs [122 off 58] and every time we bowled, it either went for four or six again, and small ground, fast outfield. The ball seemed to be travelling miles, and it was a huge total to chase. I was still pretty confident that we could chase it down. We had McCullum, we had MS Dhoni. We had Raina, Jadeja as well. So, we had some good players coming in. I think Dwayne Smith as well, Faf [du Plessis]. So, we had some really good players, so [we were] supremely confident.

I remember at the end of the game... I mean I didn’t bat really well, I think I got out for under 10 I think... It was under 5 even [1 off 3]. So, I remember after the end of the game we were all pretty disappointed because we felt that we had the team and the squad to actually go all the way that year. Unfortunately, we didn’t play very well and didn’t score the runs. ‘

The dressing room was a bit quiet, flat, but it was “What are we going to do next year” and “How are we going to win the trophy next year”, and I think that is the strength of CSK. They never get too far ahead of themselves and they never get to down on themselves. They are always very well planned. I think Stephen Fleming runs a great show and he’s complemented by MS Dhoni, who’s a master tactician, a great player and he is still doing it today. It’s fantastic to watch.