Over the years, the game of cricket has witnessed many new inventions from the players. Be it innovative shots or hairdo or bands on head, it always created a sensation and also impressed fans. One of those is Matthew Hayden playing with Mongoose bat in the third edition of Indian Premier League.
Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden created a new sensation when he first introduced the ‘mongoose bat’ in IPL. It was almost a decade ago. The bat used by the former Chennai Super Kings batsman featured a long handle, which decreased the striking surface in order to maximise the effect of the bottom hand.
It might have attracted the fans but not many members of the CSK franchise, including skipper MS Dhoni, were a fan of the idea of using the mongoose bat before Hayden had used it, the Aussie legend said in a chat with TV presenter Rupa Ramani in a video for CSK Live.
Hayden in the video revealed that the wicketkeeper-batsman had asked him not to use it. “I’ll (Dhoni) give you anything you want in life, to not use this bat! Please do not use this bat,” Hayden said.
It was fun – Matthew Hayden
Hayden, however, then assured his captain that he’s confident about the striking power of the bat and had done his homework pretty well. In fact, he proved it on the field by smashing one of his memorable IPL knocks of 93 in 43 balls.
“I’ve been using this bat for practice for about a year and a half and when it hits the middle of the bat it goes 20 metres further. I wasn’t going to put my franchise on risk by performing badly because of the bat. I had done my homework,” he added.
“Mongoose product was a step in the right direction. It was a brave, courageous decision to use it. I believed it was going to make my game better. On a couple of occasions, I used it, I loved it, it was fun,” he further said.
Well, it was the last time that someone used such a bat in the game of cricket. Later, David Warner of Australia played with an extra wood on his bat, which was later restricted by the board. Off late, MS Dhoni has given a round shape to his bat at the bottom.