'Australian Public Loved Him': Matthew Hayden Impressed With Innovative India Star's 'Thirst For Victory'

Matthew Hayden believes that Rishabh Pant would play a key role in India’s campaign at the Border-Gavaskar Trophy that is set to get underway in November this year.

Hayden says the Australian crowd loves the brand of cricket that Pant brought during an exhilarating series of performances during the 2020-21 tour where the wicketkeeper-batter played a key role in India’s series-clinching win in the final Test at Brisbane. Pant’s fearless approach against some of the best bowlers in the world was one of the highlights of the tour.

“Guys like Rishabh Pant have got a muscle memory and the thirst for victory. He was such a key player last time he played there and the Australian public loved him as well, because of the nature of the way he played his game,” Hayden told media on the sidelines of the Cricket Rating Awards 2024, on Wednesday.

“It was exciting. It was innovative. It was just fresh and good. Then you have got your old stewards, like Virat Kohli, (he) will want to make an impression again. From a batting point of view, I’m excited to see how India has that strategy to take on the Australian conditions,” the Australian added.

During the 2020-21 tour, the then India captain Virat Kohli was only available for the series opener which India went on to lose in devastating fashion. But Hayden reckons that Kohli would showcase his class with the willow, relishing the competition against the quality Aussie bowling unit.

The World Cup-winner also suggested that India would always have the quality to go up against Australia, highlighting that despite various players being out due to injury, that side still ended up winning the series.

“The great thing from an Indian perspective is that when you look at the last victory, there was no Virat Kohli. There was a very much a second team bowling line-up that won at the Gabba,” Hayden said.

“That’s the kind of confidence that you can expect this Indian unit to go to our shores (with) and go, ‘guys, we’ve done this before, and we’ve done it in a way that’s second to none, even without our key players’,” he added.

The Indian cricket team will be back in action at home when they take on Bangladesh in a two-match Test series next month.

(with PTI Inputs)