Simply Just Throwing Stones With Limited Understanding - Matthew Hayden On World Press Using Words As 'Weapon' Against India's COVID-19 Response

Former Australia batsman Matthew Hayden slams the world media for criticizing the country of India for its current dire situation of covid-19. The nation grapples with the second wave of the virus as cases and deaths keep on rising – many unrecorded – and the government is facing severe backlash for it.

Matthew Hayden, the former Chennai Super Kings opener, comes in defence of the Indian’s saying that handling a country with such a huge population and with numerous cultural differences is an unthinkably difficult task for any organization.

He reckons the world media have been using their words like ‘weapon’ against India despite not having the entire knowledge, and demands they instead use it positively.

“India is a comprehensive society with so many layers to it, Language, religion, different foods even. Simply just throwing stones with limited understanding, I felt very strongly about it. But I also understand that coming from this side of the fence that it is very difficult to understand until you have seen and I just feel privileged to have been in India as a traveler and as a brother and sister for almost three decades. I have a privileged position on that,” Matthew Hayden told CNN–News18 in an exclusive interview.

“It’s amazing how words can be weapon but can be positive as well. We as a community are linked through our consciousness and our ability to process that how we will be able to live in a new normal world of covid. One of the great and powerful words is empathy.”

Felt sympathetic to a country that has personally given me so many lessons: Matthew Hayden

Matthew Hayden, who had earlier penned down an emotional note regarding the cornering covid-19 situation in India,  expressed his deep sympathies for India, where he has played plenty of cricket as an Aussie player, then for CSK, and then toured the country several times as a commentator and a traveller.

“I just felt sympathetic to a country that has personally given me so many lessons more than anything. I have often described to people all over the world that whenever I am in India, there’s this special connection that I have with the broader community of people, not just cricket lovers but people right across (India) that have this vibrancy and this life and commitment to excellence. Coming from that place, I felt so upset and also frustrated. Some of the challenges that India were facing (compared to other countries),” the 49-year-old further stated.

He was one of the commentators in the IPL 2021, which was suspended earlier in the month following an outbreak of covid-19 cases in franchises. The BCCI is planning to resume the tournament later in the year, however, a packed schedule and logistics pose massive challenges for the board.

Also Read: Tom Moody Defends The New Grading System Implemented For Sri Lankan Cricketers