Kenpachi Zaraki
11-17-2008, 06:57 AM
Akram: Hayden is just a sore loser
Wasim Akram has lent his voice to the chorus of disapproval surrounding Matthew Hayden's recent anti-India outburst.
Matthew Hayden has stirred up a hornet's nest, once again. The man who, in the aftermath of the Sydney Test called Harbhajan Singh an "obnoxious little weed", has now gone on to criticise India, calling it a "third-world country."
In what seems to a brazen attempt to cover up Australia's abject failure on their recent Indian tour, Hayden has complained that it was the host batsmen's reluctance to face up and problems with people around the sightscreen that led to the Aussies falling behind the required over-rate.
At a time when several top Australian cricketers, including Hayden, turned to India to make a quick buck from the cash-rich Indian Premier League, the veteran Aussie opener's feelings on India's socio-economic status clearly reeks of hypocrisy.
For Hayden, India has probably been a land of contradictions. In April, Hayden was tonking bowlers to all parts of the park wearing Chennai Super Kings colours. Six months down the line, he has questioned India's world status because "some people were moving around the sightscreens." It is the same country that can afford to "buy off" Hayden for a cool US$375,000.
Hayden certainly has an old fashioned way of looking at life. The Queenslander probably thought the moment he was home, the world would stop listening, that he could reel off some redneck opinion and go fishing. But these days, the world is so small that nothing escapes attention.
Hayden's depressing stats on the India tour -- the talismanic opener could just manage 234 runs from 8 innings, at an average of 33.42, with only two scores over 50 - was probably the catalyst for this superfluous outburst.
Even as India's most nationalistic bloggers vent their ire on Hayden, there is comment from "neutral" territory. Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram is incensed at Hayden's comments, saying the Aussies have a habit of bad-mouthing their opponents whenever they lose.
Speaking to Mobile ESPN from Karachi, Akram said: "The thing about the Aussies is that they are sore losers. They get personal when they get beaten. It is all a matter of sour grapes and after going home, they've started calling India a third-world country.
"India is a superpower now; it is a hundred years ahead of Australia, which is no more than a village, when compared to India.
"You don't blame sightscreens for poor overrates. Even Allan Border was critical of Australian tactics on the pitch," Akram said.
After enjoying seven weeks of seven-star hospitality, Hayden is clearly suffering from selective amnesia. He can probably go fishing now and come back to India in three weeks' time and see how a "third-world" country hosts a six million-dollar baby called the Champions League Twenty20.
It could only happen in India.
espnstar.com
Wasim Akram has lent his voice to the chorus of disapproval surrounding Matthew Hayden's recent anti-India outburst.
Matthew Hayden has stirred up a hornet's nest, once again. The man who, in the aftermath of the Sydney Test called Harbhajan Singh an "obnoxious little weed", has now gone on to criticise India, calling it a "third-world country."
In what seems to a brazen attempt to cover up Australia's abject failure on their recent Indian tour, Hayden has complained that it was the host batsmen's reluctance to face up and problems with people around the sightscreen that led to the Aussies falling behind the required over-rate.
At a time when several top Australian cricketers, including Hayden, turned to India to make a quick buck from the cash-rich Indian Premier League, the veteran Aussie opener's feelings on India's socio-economic status clearly reeks of hypocrisy.
For Hayden, India has probably been a land of contradictions. In April, Hayden was tonking bowlers to all parts of the park wearing Chennai Super Kings colours. Six months down the line, he has questioned India's world status because "some people were moving around the sightscreens." It is the same country that can afford to "buy off" Hayden for a cool US$375,000.
Hayden certainly has an old fashioned way of looking at life. The Queenslander probably thought the moment he was home, the world would stop listening, that he could reel off some redneck opinion and go fishing. But these days, the world is so small that nothing escapes attention.
Hayden's depressing stats on the India tour -- the talismanic opener could just manage 234 runs from 8 innings, at an average of 33.42, with only two scores over 50 - was probably the catalyst for this superfluous outburst.
Even as India's most nationalistic bloggers vent their ire on Hayden, there is comment from "neutral" territory. Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram is incensed at Hayden's comments, saying the Aussies have a habit of bad-mouthing their opponents whenever they lose.
Speaking to Mobile ESPN from Karachi, Akram said: "The thing about the Aussies is that they are sore losers. They get personal when they get beaten. It is all a matter of sour grapes and after going home, they've started calling India a third-world country.
"India is a superpower now; it is a hundred years ahead of Australia, which is no more than a village, when compared to India.
"You don't blame sightscreens for poor overrates. Even Allan Border was critical of Australian tactics on the pitch," Akram said.
After enjoying seven weeks of seven-star hospitality, Hayden is clearly suffering from selective amnesia. He can probably go fishing now and come back to India in three weeks' time and see how a "third-world" country hosts a six million-dollar baby called the Champions League Twenty20.
It could only happen in India.
espnstar.com