Uthappa says: ‘Hayden Didn’t Speak To Me For 2-3 Years’

Uthappa said how in the heat of the moment, the duo was involved in a heated altercation after which Hayden didn’t speak to him for the next few years.

Robin Uthappa, the veteran Indian cricketer. He has revealed an incident when Matthew Hayden didn’t speak to him for two to three years. Uthappa said that the former Australian cricketer was his inspiration. But he decided to get under the skins of the big man. Going down memory lane. Robin recalled a series of games in 2007 when there was a lot of sledding when the teams faced.

Uthappa explained how both teams were constantly having a go at each other. Describing how it all began during the crunch semi-final tie – in Durban – of the T20 World Cup in South Africa.

“The amount of sledding that happened in that game was incredible. I remember people having a go at me. At that time when they had a go, very few people retaliated. Only Zak Bhai (Zaheer Khan) was one of them and a few other fast bowlers. But none of the batsmen gave it back.” Uthappa told stand-up comedian Sorabh Pant on his YouTube show ‘Wake Up With Sorabh’.

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“In that game, Gauti (Gautam Gambhir) gave it back. I gave it back to Andrew Symonds, Mitchell Johnson, Brad Haddin. The toughest one that I encountered in that game was Matthew Hayden. He inspired me as a person and batsman. In fact, my walking shot was picked out of him. I remember Haydos was batting and in that game. He was going at me and that is when I decided, ‘Ok, I’m going to give it back. So when they came to bat, I was giving it. And it got to Haydos at a point, while he was batting,” Uthappa added.

The trading of barbs did not end there. A week after India had won the T20 World Cup, they beat Australia in a one-off T20I match. In the ODI series, however, Australia emerged victorious, taking the series 4-2. But even during those matches. The sledding pretty much continued, with Uthappa calling it the ‘great’ phase of his cricketing career.

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“Later that year, when Australia came to play a seven ODI series and a one-off T20Is, even then we were at each other’s throats. In a one-day game, MS and they (senior players) would make me stand at a silly point just to chew Ricky Ponting’s head and stuff like that. It was a great time,” Uthappa added.