Hussey ignites du Plessis in nets for crunch clash

A South African, an Australian and a cricket pitch. You think you know where this is going, right? Wrong.

The protagonists were eye to eye but only for as long as it took for Michael Hussey to adjust the grill of Faf du Plessis' helmet. The South African No. 3 may not let many Australians get that close to his face but Hussey is different.

For much of the tail end of a lengthy training session - South Africa's third in as many days - Hussey gave du Plessis throwdowns. "Start on a good length and then we can do a bit more," du Plessis instructed. After a few deliveries, Hussey noticed something. He stopped delivering the ball, approached du Plessis, rearranged the helmet and then seemed to explain something about du Plessis' head falling away as he stepped into his stroke.

Those little things are what Hussey is there for as South Africa prepare for a crunch clash with India where they expect the battle lines to be drawn on batting prowess. Since India's line-up comes with a reputation for piling it on, South Africa want everyone firing and du Plessis is the batsman who needs igniting.

He last scored a century 13 innings ago, in the triangular tournament in Zimbabwe and although he has managed three half-centuries since then, he had a particularly poor tour of Australia last November. He scored just 97 runs across the five matches and was out to short balls three times, a delivery which rose off a length once and a slower ball delivered by Pat Cummins in the final game. His struggles seem to be in shot selection and that was what Hussey appeared to be assisting him with.

But there would have been other things Hussey would have been talking to du Plessis about too. The Australian media have dubbed Hussey South Africa's "anti-choking" coach, whose calm demeanour and patience they hope will rub off on a team which has proved pliable under pressure in the past. Du Plessis is one of the men who have cracked before, notably at the 2011 World Cup where he was involved in the on-filed scuffle and run-out which saw South Africa's quarter-final chase unravel and even though he has matured much since then, he has not been tested under similar heat.

If anyone has the advice which will cool him down, it will be Hussey. The duo are IPL team-mates whose relationship developed from competition for the same spot and has blossomed into a friendship celebrated with wine, appreciative tweets and now, net sessions.

When Hussey was unavailable for Chennai Super Kings for the first half of the 2012 season because of international commitments, du Plessis was asked to replace him at the top of the order. He exceeded expectations and struck three fifties in 12 innings which caught the eye of even the South African selectors who saw the sense in deploying du Plessis higher up the order. It took time before the No. 3 spot become permanently available in both Tests and ODIs but in that time, du Plessis established himself, both at the IPL and as international cricketer.

He made his Test debut in Adelaide and on the eve of the match, Hussey presented him with a bottle of some of his country's best. Du Plessis may have thought he'd have to use it for drowning sorrows after Australia posted a towering 550, of which Hussey contributed a century. Instead, du Plessis drank the wine in celebration of his own maiden century and a saved Test.

Later that summer, Hussey retired from Test cricket and du Plessis posted this: "Mike Hussey = Mr Cricket. Enough said." His respect for his IPL team-mate was obvious, especially over the past three days in Melbourne.

Hussey spent a lot of the first session he had with the team at St Kilda Cricket Club chatting with du Plessis and a significant part of the third working with him. Should it to translate into a big score come Sunday, South Africa will have another reason to eye a trophy come March 29. And the jibe about the South African, the Australian and the cricket pitch may be made a lot more times.