Dhoni, who retired immediately after the drawn Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, was Hussey’s teammate at the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL and reportedly backs the Aussie left-hander to take over from current coach Duncan Fletcher when his contract expires following the World Cup in March.
The Hindustan Times reports “it is almost a foregone conclusion that Duncan Fletcher’s time in the dressing room is ticking,” and says that Dhoni has made his feelings clear to the top brass at the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
“Dhoni sees a brilliant thinker and man manager in Hussey who can bring calmness and camaraderie to the dressing room like (former coach Gary Kirsten).
“The best part about Hussey is that he is a contemporary cricketer and his thinking is modern.
“Besides, his work ethic is something that Kirsten had once cited while lashing out at India players in the West Indies after the team had crashed out of the World T20 Championship.”
It is widely believed the Indian dressing room hasn’t been as happy a place under Fletcher as it was under Kirsten but Dhoni believes Hussey is the man to take the team forward.
Hussey played 79 Tests, 185 ODIs and 38 T20s for Australia with a Test match batting average of 51.52.
He is currently playing for the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League where he continues to mentor young players.
Recent tensions aside, the BCCI might be wary of hiring an Australian coach after the tumultuous reign of Greg Chappell between 2005 and 2007 in which he sacked captain Sourav Ganguly and failed to lead the side out of the group stages of the 2007 World Cup.