India wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel has revealed he nearly got smacked in the mouth by former Australia opener Matthew Hayden.
Parthiv said he made fun of the Australian after he was dismissed during a match and that made Hayden lose his cool some 16 years ago.
Parthiv was just 18-year-old when he travelled Down Under and got into the bad books of Hayden. Chasing a stiff target of 304 against India in Brisbane in 2004, the southpaw slammed a century but was dismissed for 109 by Irfan Pathan.
Hayden’s wicket proved to costly for Australia as India ended up winning the match by 19 runs. After getting dismissed, Hayden was in no mood for fun and games and Pathiv got to know that in the most hostile manner.
“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. I was just passing him by and I did a ‘hoo hoo’ to him,” Parthiv said during an interaction on 100 Hours 100 Stars.
“He got so angry at me. He was standing at the Brisbane dressing room which is like a tunnel. He was standing there and said ‘if you do this again, I will punch your face’. I said ‘sorry’.”
Parthiv also revealed the duo went on to become pals after they opened the innings for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.
“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,” Parthiv said.
“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. 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 added.
