Hussey hundred a 'special' moment

Mike Hussey puts pressure on India's fielders during his innings of 146 in Bangalore

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Mike Hussey has described scoring a century in his first Test innings on Indian soil as a “very special” feeling after he helped Australia to a position of strength in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar series.

Hussey is one of several players in the current Australia team with no previous experience of playing Test cricket in India.

The left-hand batsman, however, hit 146 against India to steer Australia to a formidable first-innings total of 430 during the second day in Bangalore.

In reply India were 68 without loss as Virender Sehwag (43) and Gautam Gambhir (20) negotiated the final half-and-a-half of play.

But the day belonged to Hussey, who admitted it had been tough going in trying conditions at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, highlight by the fact he brought his century up with an edge.

"The wicket was slow wicket with a bit of uneven bounce, there are a bit of cracks and indentations, (it is) a dry wicket," Hussey said.

"I was trying to put pressure on the opposition fielding. It was a challenge and it feels special to score.

“The field set was conducive to a lot of singles and boundaries were a little hard to come by.”

He added: “All centuries are special but I guess India is the toughest place to play cricket for an Australian cricketer and so this is very special.

"I guess it wasn't the best shots to bring up the century, but I was relieved that it hadn't hit the stumps."

Hussey, overlooked by the Australian selector for so long, got his first break in Test cricket due to an injury to former opener and Western Australia team-mate Justin Langer three years ago.

Hussey, a 30-year-old then, had made more than 15,000 first-class runs before debuting against the West Indies in Brisbane.

Virender Sehwag helps India make a positive to start to their reply before rain ended play

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"It took me a long time to get into the Australian team,” he said. "So I'm trying to take every opportunity I get and take advantage of it.

"I wear the Baggy Green cap with a lot of pride just as all the other players in the Australia dressing room."

Hussey strung together vital partnerships with Brad Haddin and Brett Lee to help Australia to a position of strength.

"The first 15-20 minutes of the innings was particularly tough, I guess my message to the guys coming in was to stay relaxed and stay calm for that initial period,” Hussey added.

"I was particularly impressed with Lee's batting."

Indian paceman Zaheer Khan, who claimed five wickets including Hussey, said that his side had initially looked to restrict the flow of runs in order to try and frustrate the batsman out.

"It's a slow wicket and after assessing the conditions we had worked out our plans," Zaheer said.

"Basically it was about restricting their run-flow and I think we did a very good job in doing that considering the position they were in yesterday.

"Bowling on Indian pitches is hard work but we accept and live up to that responsibility."

Zaheer said he was happy with his performance and that India's overall performance had been good.

"A five-for is always special and more so in India where the conditions (for fast bowlers) are tougher.” he said.

"As a team we are happy with the intensity that we showed all through and I am happy with the overall fielding, (there is) nothing to complain about."

Looking ahead, Zaheer said: "We have had a good start from our openers and we need to build on that.

"I guess we would be batting fourth on a pitch that is expected to crack. But I don't want to get to far ahead at this time.

“We are batting at the moment and we need to focus on getting the runs.”