India wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel shares a very healthy rapport with former Australia opener Matthew Hayden. The two shared the dressing room while playing for Chennai Super Kings in the early years of IPL.
However, there was a time when all was not well between Parthiv and Hayden.
Speaking in Fever Network’s initiative 100 Hours 100 Stars video, Parthiv narrated an incident from a match in Brisbane when he angered Hayden.
“I was carrying drinks in Brisbane, it was the match in which Irfan Pathan got him out. He had already scored a hundred, and it was a crucial stage when Irfan got him out. And I was just passing him by and I did a “hoo hoo” to him,” he recalled.
“He got so angry at me. He was standing at the Brisbane dressing room which is like a tunnel. He was standing there, and he said ‘if you do this again, i will punch your face’. I said ‘sorry’, I stood around and he went off,” the 35-year-old added.
Asked if everything is sorted now, Parthiv said they became good friends after playing together in the Indian Premier League.
“Yeah, Hayden wanted to beat me up in Brisbane. But we became good friends after that. We played a lot of cricket together at CSK. We enjoyed each other’s company. Opening the batting was fun with him. We’ve had good times off the field as well. So we patched up after that Brisbane incident,” he said. “Even after the IPL finished, I went to Australia with an emerging side. Hayden called me home, prepared chicken biryani and dal for me.”
Parthiv also remembered the incident when he attempted to sledge the legendary Steve Waugh during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2004. The Australian captain, at the time, told him: “Show a bit of respect, you were in nappies when I played my first Test match”.
Speaking about the same, Patel said: “I never got a chance of meeting Steve Waugh after that incident. But I got a chance of meeting his son Austin Waugh when India were playing the 4th Test in 2019. He was bringing drinks for the Australian team. So, I went up to him and I told him to give my regards to his father and then I told him ‘you were in your nappies when I made my Test debut’.”
“Australian team is very different off the field. I have played with Matthew Hayden at CSK in IPL for three years. He is such a nice human when you are in his side. And same with Binga (Brett Lee). I have been commentating with Binga. He is probably the nicest,” he concluded.
(Inputs from Hindustan Times)
