Hughes confident of making the most of his opportunity
Australia has struggled to match the English team in the Ashes so far and the question is that will Philip Hughes be the answer to their problems? He has replaced the injured Simon Katich in the squad and he also has the backing
of his captain Ricky Ponting. It will be a tough task for him to deliver under so much pressure and if the conditions in Perth are difficult for batting, it will be even tougher.
Hughes is confident that he will be able to perform in the coming matches. He has scored some good runs in the past playing for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 but he hasn’t been in the best of form in the domestic season. He has only managed 201 runs
in the first-class season but claims to be mentally stronger and prepared for the upcoming matches.
He has a reputation of playing the shorter ball weakly and as soon as he was selected in the squad, the questions being asked were about his ability to tackle the short stuff from the English pacers.
It was http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Steve-Harmison-c2576 who caused a lot of trouble to Hughes in the tour matches and after that it was Andrew Flintoff who continued troubling the 22-year old opener. Hughes believes that with Flintoff not a part of the team anymore,
he will not face any issues with the short bowling.
He stated that, “They are going to come out firing as they did in the Ashes last year as well, but then they had Flintoff who was their x-factor bowler. He was outstanding in the series and he bowled beautifully.”
Hughes also said that the bouncers are not the main problem. According to him it is the follow up deliveries that cost him his wicket. He was remembering the last Ashes he played and got out on the follow up deliveries after Flintoff
had bowled some bouncers to unsettle him.
Hughes claims that he is feeling very good in the training sessions and has been hitting the ball well in the nets. Hughes said, “Mentally I feel very good and I am hitting them good in the nets, which is always a good sign.” He
hasn’t been able to perform well for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-South-Wales-c823 and he realizes that he hasn’t got much runs under his belt.
Hughes has been getting good starts but then gets out and that is not a good sign for him. The Australian team has struggled over this recently with players getting starts but unable to capitalize on them.
Hughes is an aggressive player and he has the tendency to take the game away from the opposition quickly. He has been playing like this from the very start of his career as an 18-year old and has said that he will continue his
aggressive style over the coming years.
Hughes also compares himself with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750. He stated that, “I love watching Sehwag play and without a doubt he comes to my mind straight away as an opening batsman.”
Compared to Katich, Hughes is a totally different player. He attacks the opposition and tries to dominate with his aggression. If he succeeds against England then he will definitely put the English team on the back-foot. This will
also help some of the other Australian batsmen who have been struggling for form to take some advantage of the attacking batting of Hughes.
On the other hand, if Hughes doesn’t perform as expected, that will put added pressure on the Australian team. Katich has been performing consistently for Australia and it will not be an easy job to fill his shoes.
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