Robin Uthappa looks back at the series of matches between India and Australia starting in 2007 and reveals that there was some incredible sledding going on in each of these two encounters. 2007 was the year when India defeated Australia in the semi-final of the first T20 World Cup and then played them in a one-off T20 series and a seven-match ODI series.
Robin Uthappa and Matthew Hayden had several interactions during the India vs Australia series of matches in 2007. (Getty Images)
Throughout the series of matches, Uthappa explained how the two teams are always in competition and explained how it all started during the semi-final of the T20 World Cup in South Africa, during the decisive clash in Durban.
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“The amount of sledding that happened in that match was unbelievable. I remember people challenging me, but back then, when they did, very few people retaliated. (Zaheer Khan) was the only one, but none of the other batsmen returned the ball,” Uthappa told stand-up comedian Sohrab Pant on his YouTube show Wake Up with Sohrab. told.
“In that game, Gauti (Gautam Gambhir) gave it back to me. I gave it back to Andrew Simmons, Mitchell Johnson, Brad Haddin. The toughest player I came across in that game was Matthew. “It was Hayden. He inspired me as a person and as a hitter.” In fact, I remember my walking shot being picked off by him. Haydos was heading towards me in that match, and that’s when I decided, “Okay, I’m going to give it back.” When I came to bat, I was giving it away, and it got to Haydos at one point while he was batting.
Uthappa went on to say that he had always respected Hayden but responded by saying something towards the former Australia opener. As Uthappa pointed out, the interaction turned out to be so brutal that Hayden spent the next few years without speaking to the Indian batsmen.
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“He said something to me but I wasn’t going to repeat it and I said it back to him too. He didn’t speak to me for a couple of years. He was very abusive towards me. And it hurt. In that respect, I wanted to win and make them as uncomfortable as possible, which I did, but it really inspired me. I missed interacting with people,” Uthappa said.
Barb’s dealings didn’t end there. A week after India won the T20 World Cup, India defeated Australia in a one-shot T20I. However, Australia won the ODI series with 4 wins and 2 losses. But the sledding continued for the most part during those matches, which Uthappa said was an “amazing” period in his cricketing career.
“Later that year, when Australia came to play a seven-ODI series and a one-off T20I, even then we were bickering with each other.In one-day matches, M.S. And they (senior players) put me in a ridiculous position.”It was a lot of fun just biting Ricky Ponting’s head off,” Uthappa added.
