Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh commented on an infamous statement from the 2004 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) by former Australian opener Matthew Hayden as well. However, Australia toured India for a four-match Test serieswhere, Sourav Ganguly and Harbhajan Singh did not play the third Test at Nagpur. Hayden used the term “greentrackitis”, claiming that the two Indian players chickened out of the Test because it was a green, grass-covered pitch as well.

Singh also revealed that he had no idea about such a statement being made. He said that we would have responded well
if he had been aware of what had been said. Harbhajan Singh also clarified that he missed the game as he was unwell.

“I had no idea. If I had known this was said, I’d definitely have replied. Now I can laugh about it. I had my own problem. I could not get up from the bed. I had no idea about the team meetings, who was playing, or what was going on and why Sourav did not play. I am hearing about it for the first time,” he said on ‘Midwicket Stories’.

“Greentrackitis. BCCI had gauged a curator and produced a green track out of nowhere in Nagpur. We were used to playing on wickets that were spinning and turning and bouncing. We were like, what happened? What happened to Harbhajan and Sourav? They did not play. I took the opportunity to needle them a bit. That wicket was built for us to win,” he further added.

READ HERE: Shubman Gill Breaks Silence On ODI Futures Of Rohit Sharma And Virat Kohli

However, Australia had previously played a Test series in India in 2001, and it was a great series on an individual note for both Harbhajan Singh and Matthew Hayden as well. He also recalled how Hayden scored a lot of runs and helped his side win the game. Notably, Hayden scored 119 in the first innings.

“Before we came to that game in Kolkata, a lot had happened in Mumbai, where he lost in the first three days. Hayden scored a brilliant hundred. They were at 90/4, and we believed that we had the game in our hands. Hayden was playing quietly till the end, only defending. Suddenly Gilchrist came, and I don’t know what he whispered in his ear and from there onwards Hayden did not stop sweeping. He did not stop. We managed to put the brakes on Gilchrist, and Hayden single-handedly won that game,” he said.

“In Kolkata, Hayden was batting differently again. Close to tea, he was on 97, the only man outside at cow corner was Hemang Badani. He was looking to hit me for a six, and the ball went straight to Badani’s hand. The moment he got out, things started to change. For us, it was a big comeback in the series. That changed my game as well. It gave me the name. Hardly anyone was talking about me as a bowler before that game. That was the series that changed everything,” Harbhajan Singh again shared.

“On day three, when the score was on 115, Sachin played an expansive cover drive, and he nicked off. On the way to the ground that way, Michael Slater had a full box of cigars and he said we would be climbing in onto this after a series win today. We hadn’t won the Test yet. We did not take a wicket for the whole day. It was extraordinary. Dravid’s 150 and Laxman’s 250 was something special,” Harbhajan Singh concluded.