When RP Singh became Hussey’s bogeyman in 2007-08 (Magic Moments Ind-Aus)

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali New Delhi, Nov 21 : Left-arm pacer Rudra Pratap Singh played only 14 Tests in a short career, but his two four-wicket bursts in the 2007-08 Test series in Australia, during which he played an important hand in India’s win in the third Test, stand out. He became bogeyman for Michael Hussey, whom he dismissed four times in the series, including once with a cleverly chalked out plan.
Singh’s four wickets for 68 runs in Australia’s first innings set-up a memorable win for India, and he bagged two more wickets in the second, including the last wicket that signalled a 72-run win at the Western Australia Cricket Association ground, Perth, in January 2008. His victims included Hussey, Adam Gilchrist, Brett Lee, and Stuart Clark.
Singh, who could naturally swing the ball both ways, fondly narrates how he planned Hussey’s dismissal in Perth after ‘Mr Cricket’ cut down his cover drive, off which he was getting out repeatedly.
“I had dismissed Hussey four times in that series, and at all times almost in the same manner – forcing him to play the cover drive and getting caught. He was a legend, and in Perth he came with a better plan and stopped playing the cover drive. That posed a little problem for us, and then we chalked out our strategy again with Anil bhai. We decided that he will force him to take his front foot a little more and across, and gradually we took the ball away from him,” Singh, who turns 35 on December 6, told IANS.
“After bowling three-four overs like that, I bowled an in-swinger, probably in my fifth over, which beat the left-hander and I won a leg before the wicket verdict in the second innings. If you bowl to a better batsman you bowl with a plan,” he said. Hussey, who had scored a century in the first Test, scored 46 off 113 balls.
Singh admitted he was wiser after the planned dismissal of Hussey.