Nothing better than beating India: Hayden

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Matthew Hayden said he loves beating India in India and silencing the packed stadiums. More...

[The Outsider]

Talk about rubbing it in.

[varun]

Gawd, first thing that came to my mind after reading that : "Ma ka .... " Ok, I retract my previous statement on another thread. I'm looking forward to the Aussie series a lot more now :D

[veer]

Gawd, first thing that came to my mind after reading that : "Ma ka .... " Ok, I retract my previous statement on another thread. I'm looking forward to the Aussie series a lot more now :D

arre yeh sab dekh kar he to thread chalu kiya tha.. ek ek ko rakh rakh kar marna he.. even that retired dude McGrath is also getting on with issuing statement.. as far as cricket is concerned, i would like to see ozzie's behind kicked more than pakis at the moment...

[yoda]

Who wouldn't love beating an opponent and silencing a packed stadium?

[veer]

Who wouldn't love beating an opponent and silencing a packed stadium?

yes.. soo we gotta return the favor now.. :thumbs_up:

[King]

Fair call I suppose, Hayden reckons beating India is a lot more fun than beating England. It's a compliment. This time around Hayden is a bit subtle. Hayden had said Tendulkar slogs and gets away, Rahul Dravid doesn't have a shot, Laxman always plays across the line, Ganguly can't handle short stuff and Zaheer Khan is OTT the last time around India were preparing to visit Australia (2003). I guess he singles out teams and individuals that are potent. I guess it's a compliment and I'm sure he'd be thinking India isn't a bad team so better ruffle them a bit.

[Mr. Wicket]

Yup - on the flip side, I'm sure for a lot of other int'l players, there's nothing better than beating Australia because they pose such a tough challenge. In the last decade and a bit as Australia rose to the top of the world and then stayed there, India has been the only team to really push them or challenge them in any conditions. India in India has been the one weakness until 2004, and you can see just how important a win against India is for the Aussies. [Australia have beaten India in 4 tests in the last 3 series played. Australia have beaten England in 5 tests in the last 1 series played. :D]

[Ram]

The 2004 loss hurts badly. If only the Chennai weather had held-up for the last day , we may have seen a different result. Wishful thinking i know........................ Damien Martyn was brilliant in that series though. He will forever remembered for his contribution in one of the rare Aussie victories on Indian soil.

[Mr. Wicket]

More than Martyn, it was Gillespie who stole the show for me. Ferocious with the new ball, pacy, accurate, swinging and seaming it and just as hard to get around with the old ball. THE bowler of the series, after McGrath broke India's back in Bangalore in his first two overs. And then there was his batting - dogged, gritty, incredibly tenacious and delivering where most of his far more illustrious colleagues failed. That was one series where his bowling in my book touched the cusp of greatness - shame he went downhill so quickly after that, and ended up being dropped less than a year later.

[Ram]

Yea , Gillespie was massive too. Still cant forget the Sehwag drive down the ground off the last ball of the 4th day of Mcgrath.

[Mr. Wicket]

Fine shot, but the response though is one to always remember - McGrath staring up at the clouds, cursing and muttering and looking visibly rattled. I've only seen two batsmen do that to him in the last 10 years - Sehwag that day, and Tendulkar in Nairobi.

[Guest BossBhai]

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[Guest BossBhai]

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[Mr. Wicket]

Some day after the apocalypse, we will be left only with cockroaches running around, Keith Richards, and Boss still whining about Bucknor and Bowden costing India in 04.

[Guest BossBhai]

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[Ram]

Here is the scorecard of that fateful event. Sehwag was unstoppable in that series with the bat. http://usa.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2004-05/AUS_IN_IND/SCORECARDS/AUS_IND_T2_14-18OCT2004.html

[Mr. Wicket]

Yup. It's my belief that Sehwag should take first strike as a test opener, just to get the first blow in on the opposition bowling. When McGrath ripped through India's top in Bangalore, he had figures of 1.4-1-0-2 at one stage. And beyond leaves and forward defenses, I'm not sure how many strokes Chopra and Dravid attempted then. Sehwag got to face him before he could settle into a rhythm, and immediately ensured he didn't - 2-0-18-0 is another story altogether. Seriously hope Karthik isn't opening with Jaffer in Australia. If Sehwag's not there - or in the middle order, it'll be a lot less of a contest.

[Ram]

Agree , Sehwag MUST play. But who will he replace ? The current openers have done well in the english series. The only hope for Sehwag is that one of the openers falter badly in the Pak series. Besides , Karthik can also play in the middle-order. Maybe our team will look like this , Jaffer Sehwag Dravid Tendulkar Ganguly Karthik/Yuvraj Dhoni Kumble RPS Zaheer Sreesanth

[Mr. Wicket]

Karthik/Yuseless shouldn't be in the middle order. Yuseless averages in the low 30s after almost 20 games, and I don't expect him to handle Clark and the other Aussies. Give me: Jaffer, Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman. I'd argue for Badrinath, but VVS' class and past record in Aus wins out. Karthik's decent but limited. Can't go on and make big scores, and his fielding's quite overrated. Sehwag IMO may be a bit slower in the field, but he's got a much safer pair of hands in the slips, gully or at cover.