'I will never say Sehwag is out of form'

Michael Hussey has enormous respect for Virender Sehwag and insisted that the 'Nawab of Najafgarh' can "never be out of form", but at the same time hoped that Virat Kohli has a bad day in office when Australia take on India in their Super Eights match in Colombo on Friday.

"I would never say that Virender Sehwag is out of form. He can miss out a couple of times but we all know that every time he misses out he is closer to the next big one. 

"Normally, when he scores big runs, he scores them quickly so I will never say Sehwag is out of form," Hussey senior told mediapersons at the end of Australia's practice session at the P Sara Oval ground.

On Kohli's splendid run in international cricket, Hussey said: "Yeah I am not exactly sure what our plans are but even if I know I am not going to reveal them. 

"He is obviously at a purple patch in the manner that he is playing. 

"Every batsman tends to miss out on some stage and I hope that he is going to miss out (against us)."

When there is Australia, the topic of Harbhajan Singh can't be far behind, but Hussey feels the Aussies are far better equipped than the Englishmen to tackle the off-spinner. 

"Of, course he (Harbhajan) is going to strengthen the team. He is a class act and has been that for a long period of time. He is someone that we respect but when you play Twenty20, you got to be aggressive as well and try and put him under pressure," he said.

"He did a fantastic job the other night but I think we can play better than the English team," Hussey said of Harbhajan, who demolished England with figures of 4-12 in the final group match.

India versus Australia has always been tense games and Hussey knows that the upcoming one won't be any different. 

"That first game is massive. We are coming to a very important stage of the tournament and probably that first game (against India) is very crucial. 

"If we can get to a winning start then it puts us in a good position and gives us a good chance of making it to the semi-final," the left-hander said.

The Australian team management knows that Indian spinners will be bowling the bulk of 20 overs and so they are gearing up for the challenge. 

"I do suspect that they (India) will bowl a fair bit of spin to us if not just the frontline spinners, may be the part-timers will also bowl at us. 

"Guys like Yuvraj, Raina and Rohit Sharma can bowl a bit. Even Sehwag can bowl. So we have to adapt very quickly to whoever they are going to bring on. It can be a tough challenge," Hussey said.

Hussey, who has been a key member of the Chennai Super Kings set-up, admitted that IPL has helped him to get a better knowledge about Indian cricketers. 

"It does help in getting a better knowledge. Seeing how those guys prepare and play, seeing their strengths and weakness, seeing how they train for these sub-continental conditions, it is going to be a positive. 

"But at the end of the day, I don't think it is a match-defining advantage because they know our players very well as well. So I don't think that's much of an advantage."