Parthiv Patel Recalls A Sledging Incident Involving Matthew Hayden During The 2004 VB Series

Parthiv Patel may have made his debut as a teenager during the 2002 tour of England but the wicketkeeper-batsman never used to hold back from indulging in sledging the opposition batsmen even in the first few years of his international career.

His sledge at Steve Waugh and the subsequent rebuttal during the latter’s final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2004, is now a part of folklore. Parthiv, during an interaction with Fever Network’s 100 hours 100 stars, went on to reveal another sledging incident from the same tour involving Australian opener Matthew Hayden.

It all happened during the 2004 VB series league game between India and Australia at the Gabba. Hayden, who had racked up a brilliant hundred, was threatening to the game away from India, who had racked up 303 thanks to a brilliant hundred from VVS Laxman. The left-hander was involved in a verbal dual with Irfan Pathan throughout his innings.

Pathan eventually had the last laugh after he had Hayden caught-behind. Parthiv was the 12th man in that game and as Hayden was walking back to the pavilion, the Indian wicketkeeper did a ‘hoo hoo’ at the Australian.

“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,” Parthiv recalled.

Parthiv recalled that Hayden got so enraged at his actions that the former threatened him to punch his face if he did that same again.

“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.

Also Read: You Were in Your Nappies, When I Made my Test Debut: Parthiv Patel to Steve Waugh’s Son

Parthiv Patel and Matthew Hayden went on to open for the CSK, a few years later

Years later, Hayden and Parthiv Patel patched up during the time when they opened together for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL.

“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,” he said.

Coming back to that Brisbane ODI, India went on to win the match by 19 runs. But, as it turned out, the Men in Blue had to wait for more than 3 years to register another 50-over win over the then world champions.

Also Read: Parthiv Patel’s Inspiring Story: Lost A Finger At Six, Never Complained, Kept Going

Watch the video here: