Mike Hussey to mentor Australia for the World T20, Sridharan Sriram joins camp too

Michael Hussey to work with Australia as their coaching consultant.

Michael Hussey, the former Australian batsman, is all set to join his national side yet again, albeit as a coach, instead of a player. Australia have declared that Hussey would be joining them as a coaching consultant for the upcoming World T20 in India.

Hussey, remembered for many an innings, is no stranger to the shortest format of the game, as his innings of 60 off just 24 balls with 3 fours and 6 sixes against Pakistan in the 2010 World T20 semi-final, would still be remembered by many Pakistani fans as the innings that denied them consecutive shots at the cup.

He also has loads of experience when it comes to the Indian conditions, as he has been a regular in the Indian Premier League (IPL) having already played 59 games, and still in contention for the next season.

Australia, though, have had certain concerns going into the tournament, as their front line pace machine Mitchell Starc is injured with a broken ankle and is almost set to miss the tournament in India starting in March next year.

Moreover, the shortest format of the game hasn’t really been in the team’s plans for 2015, courtesy the 2015 Cricket World Cup which they won on March 29 this year, as Australia have played only one T20 international in the entire year.

Delighted to be involved in World T20 campaign: Hussey

This will change in January, though, when they host India for a three match T20 series apart from a 5 match ODI series, and travel to South Africa thereafter to play three more T20s.

This should give them sufficient practice before their first game of the tournament against New Zealand in Dharamsala on March 18.

"Mike has been one of our most successful players at transitioning between the different formats and his advice and support in this area will be of great benefit to the players who have played a large amount of Test and ODI cricket in the last 12 months," said Pat Howard, the Cricket Australia executive general manager for team performance.

"He also has significant experience playing in India through the Indian Premier League and will assist in adapting to the unique conditions we will experience."

The former cricketer, who retired in 2012-13, was also excited regarding this opportunity, “"As a proud Australian cricketer I am delighted to be involved in Australia's campaign for the World T20 title.”

"I'm really looking forward to working with the boys and assisting in any way possible with their preparation and match day plans," he said.

Hussey has also worked with South Africa as their batting consultant.

Sriram’s focus will be on getting Australian players prepared for Indian conditions: CA

Apart from Hussey, former India cricketer Sridharan Sriram has also been appointed by Australia as a coaching consultant to help them acclimatise with Indian conditions. He will be working with the team in South Africa to help them prepare for what they might face in India.

"We will play three T20 internationals against South Africa prior to arriving in India and Sriram's focus will be on getting the players as prepared as possible for what they will face in India," Howard said.

Sriram was the coaching consultant with the Australia A side when they travelled to India earlier this year, and was supposed to go to Bangladesh for the same role with the senior side, before the tour was called-off.