'Rohit Sharma made a bad choice...': Hayden slams India captain's decision to bowl at Gabba, backs AUS to 'win series'
Matthew Hayden gave his verdict on what he regarded as a mistake at the toss made by Rohit Sharma at the Gabba.
With the Gabba in Brisbane being a ground notorious for providing success to teams batting first, many pundits were left surprised as Indian captain Rohit Sharma chose to bowl first in the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test match. Although the first day was rained out, and overcast conditions might have pushed Rohit towards this decision, it was a call that raised eyebrows, especially amongst those familiar with the Gabba’s conditions.
Speaking on a segment for Channel 7 in Australia, former opener Matthew Hayden made his thoughts on the matter clear, stating that he believed India were already behind in the match following the decision made by Sharma at the toss.
Asked for his prediction for the rest of the Test match, Hayden didn’t bite back words regarding what he saw as a mistake. “I’m buying Australia [to win the series]. I’m buying them in this Test match,” said Hayden. “I’m buying at the toss, the fact that the captain of India, I felt, made a bad choice at the toss. This is a very good batting wicket, batting here is always so damn good in the first three days.”
Hayden, who was born in the small town of Kingaroy in Queensland and called the Gabba his home ground in domestic cricket, is a player who is deeply familiar with the Brisbane ground. The tall left-hander scored over 900 runs in his Test career in Brisbane, including four centuries and an average over 60. One of the most successful batters at this venue, he believed this was the wrong call despite overcast conditions, as well as India’s success batting second on the previous tour in 2021.
Winning team to take a decisive 2-1 lead?
Hayden also expects the Gabba Test to go in favour of Australia and swing the momentum of the series in their way. Although he is optimistic about India’s chances heading into the New Year’s Test at the SCG, he also argued that he expected Australia to perform at their best at the MCG, making that final match of the series a dead rubber.
“This Test match will set up the rest of the series, where they will probably come back into their own a little bit, in particular in Sydney,” said the big southpaw. “But this Test match, and Melbourne, there’s not an Aussie on the planet who doesn’t love the Boxing Day Test match. So it’s all Australia that my money is going towards.”
Australia had a solid start as only 13.2 overs were bowled at the Gabba before rain washed out the entirety of the second and third session, with native Queenslander Usman Khawaja looking good at the crease before the players were called off.
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