MS Dhoni picks Michael Hussey as ideal candidate to coach India: Reports

Michael Hussey could be a great coach for India, according to MS Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni might have retired from Test Cricket, but there is no doubt that the 33-year-old will be key to India’s fortunes in the upcoming World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The World Cup, meanwhile, will also be current head coach Duncan Fletcher’s final assignment with India.

With that being the case, the search for the next Indian coach is one that will have to begin quickly. It is learnt that Dhoni is interested in having former Australian batsman Michael Hussey take over from the Zimbabwean.

One of the reasons why the man from Ranchi could have Hussey’s name in mind is because the two have played together at the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL, and Dhoni feels that the 39-year-old is an excellent thinker of the game and has very good man-management skills, much like what former coach Gary Kirsten had.

Also, Hussey, like the South African, is a cricketer from the current generation, and he has been of great help by all accounts to his former opening partner at CSK, Murali Vijay, and that work put in has certainly been on show in the current series in Australia, where the right-hander has been piling on the runs with the bat. Hussey also has a great work ethic, and it is believed that Kirsten had once cited him as an example when India were having a rough time during the 2009 World T20.

Hussey played 79 Tests for his country between 2005 and 2013 and also represented Australia on 185 occasions in ODI cricket. He also had a pretty successful stint with the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL and won the title with them in 2011.

The BCCI, while opting for a new coach, generally consults former cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri, and it remains to be seen whether they would show any interest in the name that is in Dhoni’s mind right now.