Matthew Hayden derives almost a sadistic pleasure when he silences a choc-a-bloc
Indian stadium with a match-winning knock or a brutal shot and the towering Australian
opener says nothing matches the elation he gets after thrashing the 'Men in Blue'.
Just back from an ill-tempered one day series against India, which his side won
4-2, Hayden said India had replaced England as his favourite punching bag
with the bat.
"I think India is close on being my favourite side to
beat. They've almost taken the number one seed off England in a lot of ways,"
Hayden was quoted as saying by 'Sydney Morning Herald'.
"It's a side that within it's psyche has amazing highs and amazing lows.
So it doesn't take long to realise they're at a low when you're standing in
front of 70,000 people at a stadium and you can hear a pin drop.
"It's a great position to be in and you know you've got them beat,"
he said.
"Our ambition is to keep their crowd as quiet as we possibly
can and just play good cricket. It's not a personal thing," added Hayden,
an old Team India nemesis.
The hard-hitting opener said India doomed themselves
by pretending to match the Australians in the aggression stake, which only ended
up spurring Ricky Ponting's men to thrash them in the one day series.
"I think it's one of the greatest misconceptions of this
side ever, that it's aggressive. I think what we are, it extends from our culture,
is just having a great mateship and camaraderie within any kind of team,"
Hayden said.
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