Calcutta: The controversial ‘obstruction’ incident in the match against Australia might have left India seething with anger but the man at the centre of the controversy, David Hussey has justified his action saying he was just trying to “protect” himself.

Hussey said he would have accepted the umpire’s decision if he had been given out for sticking out his hand to stop a throw during the match at the SCG.

“I was just trying to protect myself. I probably should have just let the ball hit me and then the whole situation would have been less frustrating. I can see how the Indians are frustrated with the decision but I certainly was protecting myself. There was no malice in stopping the ball or preventing me from being run out,” Hussey was quoted as saying in the Sydney Morning Herald.

“I just saw it and thought, ‘Oh no, it’s going to hit me in the head,’ and I just put my hand up to stop the ball.

“Looking back on it, you can see both sides of the argument, you could probably give me out, not a problem, but then on the flipside, I was just protecting myself.

“It was probably a critical moment in the game, too, so it would have been nice just to take all the emotion out of it,” he added.

The incident happened in the 24th over of the Australian innings when they were at a precarious 119 for four with wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade taking off for a single off Ravichandran Ashwin’s final delivery.

Non-striker David Hussey answered his partner’s call but as he was completing the run, the Australian put his right hand out to stop the ball from hitting him.

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni appealed for an obstructing the field dismissal which is allowed under the ICC rules.