Michael Hussey, Super Kings' consummate team man

If the IPL were to introduce an award for the best team player of 2015, Michael Hussey would be one of the top contenders to win it. He has spent the majority of the season on the sidelines, but he hasn't been warming the Chennai Super Kings bench a lot.

The most enduring image of Hussey this Indian summer is of him swathed in towels, running around the ground to offer drinks and words of encouragement to his team-mates. The sheer enthusiasm with which he goes about his duties is like that of a doting soccer dad being there for his kids.

Not being part of Chennai Super Kings' first XI would have been difficult for a competitior like Hussey. He watched Brendon McCullum make all those runs from beyond the boundary, knowing he would have to take McCullum's place when the New Zealand batsman went to England. But there was no ego or rancor; only admiration, and plenty of it.

Super Kings would have liked to make the top two in the league earlier than they did to ensure Hussey had some time to bed in. But things didn't go to plan and it wasn't until their last league game, against Kings XI Punjab, that Hussey got an opportunity. He scored 1 off 4 balls and then 16 against Mumbai Indians in the first Qualifier.

The Super Kings batsmen had underachieved through the tournament and Hussey had to not only score the runs McCullum did but also provide his team with the assurance and nous he is reputed for. It didn't take him long to deliver.

In the second Qualifier, against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Hussey struck a 46-ball 56 to shepherd Super Kings through a tricky chase. He was typically cheerful, a smile plastered on his face while talking to the media after the game. The innings, according to him, was particularly satisfying because, "you got to sit and watch and wait for your opportunity to come along."

He said it had not been easy coming off the bench and scoring right away. "It's difficult, but I have been practicing a lot every day in the nets, so I felt reasonably well prepared, but in a couple of matches I haven't made many runs.

"Today I was finding it difficult out there, so I thought to myself and certainly when I was batting with MS, 'If we were finding it difficult, then it was going to be twice as hard for a new batsman coming in. So we were just trying to be there right till the end if we could, and hopefully we get pretty close."

The hard part for Hussey and the others, however, will be to replicate such match awareness against an uncompromising Mumbai Indians side on an Eden Gardens wicket that is said to have a greenish tinge to it.

"We just haven't had a batsman consistently go on and make the really big score," Hussey said. "Brendon has certainly made a couple of big scores. Dwayne Smith made a couple of big scores, but consistently speaking we haven't done as much as what we have done in the past. It's not for the lack of trying, that's for sure."

Hussey said the hardest part was striking a balance between attacking batting and a sense of responsibility. "The coaching staff has been challenging us to take the responsibility and turn the 20s and 30s into 60s and 70s and 80s, and win T20 games. In the same breath, you want guys to be able to play with freedom, and to be attacking and aggressive which obviously increases the risks.

"So, it's a real balancing act of taking the responsibility and making sure you are the one that goes through and makes the big score, but also playing with that freedom and a little bit of risk as well. Sometime it comes off and goes your way and other times it doesn't."

It's a template Hussey has perfected over many summers and he employed it successfully again in Ranchi. Now for him to give it more polish in Kolkata.