Adios Haydos

Sreelata YellamrazuJan 20 2009

by Siddharth Raman

The beginning of this week saw the end of the career of one of the most destructive opening batsmen of the past two decades - Matthew Lawrence Hayden. It must have been a pretty emotional moment for all Australian supporters and at the same time bowlers around the world would have breathed a sigh of relief as they would not have to bowl to this batting Goliath!

hayden vvs qcZil 17022

A look back at his career would reveal that although Hayden (aka Haydos in the Australian dressing room) had the benefit of physical strength, he relied more on mental strength to score more than fourteen thousand international runs. It takes more than physical strength to make a permanent spot for yourself in the Australian test and ODI team if you have been in and out of it for seven years. Steve Waugh deserves to take credit for Hayden's resurgence on the international scene for it was under Waugh's captaincy that Hayden got the backing to be in the team and since then there was no looking back for him.

Hayden's renaissance period began in the Indian summer of 2001. Before the tour commenced he paid a visit to India to get acclimatised to the conditions and also get tips on how to tackle spinners on Indian dust bowls. The results of these efforts were there for all to see, with Hayden employing the tactics Graham Gooch used against Indian spinners in the 1987 World Cup semi finals-sweeping and slog sweeping them out of the attack. Although India went on to win that series, nobody can forget how prolific a scorer Hayden was-he scored a magnificent attacking century at the Wankhede, half centuries in both innings of the second test(missing the three figure mark by a whisker in the first innings) and to top it up he scored a double century in the scorching heat and humidity of Chennai! His last innings of the series was the only one in which he did not cross the half century mark.This was a sign of things to come. From an Indian perspective the 2001 series brought Hayden into the limelight and from then on there was no denying the fact that Hayden was treated in the same league as Ponting,Gilchrist and Waugh.

Hayden carried forward his form to the One Day version of the game as well. The Hayden Gilchrist combination at the top of the order for the Australians laid the platform for many a memorable victory. March 23rd 2003 - the day of the World Cup final in Johannesburg is a day all Indian cricket fans would want to forget,but the defining image of that match quite strangely would have to be from a day prior to the finals. Mathew Hayden was standing behind the wickets and picturising his innings for the next day. Every shot was played in his mind before it was in display for the world to watch. That was the amount of mental preparation that went into Hayden's game. He joined another elite club,this time of left handed openers viz Saeed Anwar and Sanath Jayasuriya who more often than not pulverised the Indian bowling attack under any kind of playing condition. The sight of Hayden walking down the pitch and cracking the ball through the covers must have given Zaheer Khan and company many a sleepless night.

Ironically Hayden's loss of form came where it all began - India. He had a forgettable tour of the country where eight years earlier he announced his arrival to the cricketing world.From there on it was downhill for him culminating in the home series loss to South Africa.One can can get an idea of Hayden's greatness from the fact that whenever he was out of form,Australia invariably lost. The 2005 Ashes,the 2008 tour of India and the series against South Africa are testimony to this fact. For a man who played thirteen test matches in his first seven years of international cricket to become one of the cornerstones for his team during a period of world domination of the game speaks volumes about Hayden's mental toughness and self belief.The sight of the nearly two metre mammoth batting machine,with nothing but concentration writ all over his face,chewing gum like there is no tomorrow running out of the pavilion to take strike will be missed!

Adios Haydos! Thank you for the entertainment.

Ponting emerges as Magnanimous Captain For Hayden

Relief On the Retirement Of Mathew Hayden

Virender Sehwag a Great Fan of Matthew Hayden

Hayden smashes the run record

Word Games Before War Games

Gavaskar compares Sehwag with Viv Richards

Sehwag reveals his Multan secret

Sehwag back in Team India

BCCI announces team India for World Cup, Sehwag, Pathan included

Missing Twenty20 captaincy does not bother Sehwag

Harbhajan joins the Heroics of India’s Lone Saving Grace- Sehwag