Kolkata: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Saturday hit back at Matthew Hayden for claiming that he had chickened out of 2004 Nagpur Test because of the green wicket there, saying his record on such pitches in Australia would tell a different story.
Hayden, who retired in 2009, had written in his autobiography 'Standing My Ground' that the sudden withdrawal of Ganguly and Harbhajan from the Test which the visitors eventually won to clinch a historic series win, was due to the fear of the green pitch on offer.
"I request him (Hayden) to behave like an international player," Ganguly said.
Drawing comparison of the Nagpur wicket with that of Gabba in Brisbane, Hayden had written that Ganguly's late withdrawal was due "greentrackitis, where you develop a severe intolerance to green wickets, likely to give plenty of headaches as a batsman".
Ganguly reminded Hayden that he had scored a hundred at Gabba besides playing important roles in India's wins later.
"He remembered Brisbane in Nagpur. Just want to remind him of my hundred in Brisbane in the first Test. Also since 2003, we have beaten them (Australia) everytime in Brisbane.
"Me and Bhajji have been important part of Indian team on all those wins," he said.
Ganguly, who was the Indian captain, pulled out of the Nagpur Test citing a leg-muscle injury. The home side was trailing 0-1 in the four-match Test series.
Australia won the Nagpur Test to win their first ever Test series after 35 years. India, however, won the last Test in Mumbai.
0 comments:
Post a Comment