“He said something to me which I’m not going to repeat and I said something back to him” – Robin Uthappa on sledging Hayden

Former India batsman Robin Uthappa recalled sledging Matthew Hayden during the semi-final of the 2007 World T20 after which the former Australia opener didn’t talk to him for the next few years. Uthappa further admitted he felt hurt by the cold behaviour since he had always idolised Hayden.

On stand-up comedian Sorabh Pant’s YouTube show, Robin Uthappa revealed he decided to pay the Aussies back in the same coin and sledged four of them, including Hayden, during the Durban encounter. He didn’t disclose the exact verbal volleys, but they surely hit Hayden badly enough to stop him from interacting with Uthappa for the next two or three years.

“I remember Haydos was batting and in that game, he was going at me and that is when I decided, ‘Okay, I’m going to give it back’. So when they came to bat, I was giving it. And it got to Haydos at a point, while he was batting. He said something to me which I’m not going to repeat and I said something back to him," revealed the Indian batsman.

“He did not speak to me for two-three years. He would be very cold-shouldered to me. And it hurt. Because at that point, it was about winning. I wanted to win and make them feel as uncomfortable as possible, and I did that. We won but I missed out on interacting with someone who truly inspired me,” Robin Uthappa explained on ‘Wake Up With Sorabh’.

It was Matthew Hayden who inspired Robin Uthappa to nonchalantly charge down the track to fast bowlers and smash them in the same motion.

“I gave it back to Andrew Symonds, Mitchell Johnson, Brad Haddin. The toughest one that I encountered in that game was Matthew Hayden. He inspired me as a person and batsman. In fact, my walking shot was picked out of him,” Robin Uthappa, who scored 113 runs in the showpiece event, added.

A concerted bowling effort from India saw Australia fall short by 15 runs before MS Dhoni’s boys trounced arch-rivals Pakistan by five runs in the summit clash to win the inaugural event.

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“The amount of sledging that happened in that game was incredible” – Robin Uthappa

India beat Pakistan by 5 runs to win the maiden World T20 in Johannesburg

Back in the day, Indian players hardly ever engaged in banter, let alone sledging opponents. Robin Uthappa stated that while the fast bowlers still managed to throw around some words, the batsmen always stayed shut. Things, however, took a dramatic turn at Kingsmead that night.

“The amount of sledging that happened in that game was incredible. I remember people having a go at me and at that time, when they had a go, very few people retaliated. Only Zak bhai [Zaheer Khan] was one of them and a few other fast bowlers. But none of the batsmen gave it back. In that game, Gauti [Gautam Gambhir] gave it back,” Robin Uthappa said.

After winning the mental battle in the semi-final, Gambhir would then play a match-winning 75 off 54 balls in the final to kickstart a T20 revolution both in Indian cricket and the world over.