Sharing Dhoni's secrets with Australia? Naah, says CSK coach Mike Hussey

Hussey is confident that Australia will have their plans in place for the former India captain MS Dhoni.

Michael Hussey feels that Mahendra Singh Dhoni does not have "too many weaknesses" but even if he has, the Chennai Super Kings batting coach wouldn't share them with in-form Australia ahead of their World Cup clash on Sunday.

Having crushed Afghanistan and put up an inspirational performance against a rampaging West Indies, Australia are expected to be more than a handful for India when the two teams square off at the Oval.

Hussey has played alongside Dhoni at CSK and as coach, watched him from close quarters in the franchise.

So, will Hussey share his insights on Dhoni with the Australian coaching team?

"No chance. There aren't too many weaknesses there anyway," the former Australia batsman let out a chuckle as he spoke to PTI in an exclusive interview.

However, Michael Hussey is confident that Australia will have their plans in place for the former India captain.

"All the teams do very thorough analysis on all the players so I am sure that they will have their plans for MSD and all the Indian players."

Asked what makes Dhoni tick when he is just a month short of 38, Hussey said the it's the legend's awareness of his strengths.

"He is a great competitor and keeps his composure better than anyone especially under pressure. He is a very smart player, who is calculating. He knows his strengths and always sticks to them," said the member of the 2007 World Cup-winning Australian team.

Dhoni's strike-rate has been an issue for some time but Hussey doesn't find anything wrong with his strategy of taking some time before hitting the finisher mode.

"Not only does he (Dhoni) play according to the situation of the game but also likes to give himself some time at the start of his innings to get settled. Dhoni likes to take the responsibility of being there at the end to finish off the innings or the game."

He feels that Dhoni's mere presence and ability to take the game deep will keep the opposition on its edge.

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Who will win ICC World Cup 2019? Check out who the punters are betting on

Bookies expect the Indian captain, Virat Kohli to emerge as the tournament's top run scorer.

With less than a fortnight remaining before the 12th edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup gets underway in England and Wales, the squads for all the 10 participating teams have been announced and the race to predict the winner is gathering steam.

Most online betting websites expect host England to win the tournament. Ladbrokes, for instance, pegs the odds of an England win at 15/8, followed by India (at 3/1) and then defending champions Australia (at 9/2). Simply put, 15/8 is the fraction the bookie is willing to multiply your stake by.

Mathematically, 15/8 implies 15 divided by 8, or the fraction 1.875. So if you bet on England with the odds currently placed at 15/8, the amount you bet will be multiplied by 15 and then divided by 8. The winnings, on this case, will be the result of the above-mentioned fraction plus the amount you originally bet.

For example, bid money Rs 50,000. Odds: 15/8. If you win, the total amount you get will be:

(Rs 50,000 x 15)/8 + Rs 50,000 = Rs 1,43,750

Remember, most websites do charge a small commission on the winnings as well.

Ireland, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan are placed at the bottom of the pyramid with the odds for winning placed at 1000/1, 1000/1 and 100/1, respectively.

Another online betting site, Betway, also expects England to win the ICC World Cup (odds at 3.25), followed by India (odds at 3.75) and Australia (odds at 4.5). It, however, places Sri Lanka (51), Afghanistan and Bangladesh at the bottom of the winners pyramid with odds of 81.

And the prediction does have a solid reasoning. England skipper Eoin Morgan will have the company of Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Jos Buttler and Joe Root in the batting department - and all of them have been in good touch.

As regards India, Virat Kohli will lead the side and will to play a crucial role in the batting line-up along with Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and MS Dhoni, who is a seasoned wicket-keeper and a true 'game finisher'.

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