Zaheer on his mind

After falling thrice to the Indian paceman, Hayden8217;s working, and talking, hard before their battle resumes at Kotla

How8217;s the bounce, mate?8221; The question from Australian coach Tim Nielsen brought a frown on Matthew Hayden8217;s face. 8220;Not good at all, you have to force yourself to stay down to get some contact,8221; he replied. The next ball from Mitchell Johnson, though, jumped up, hitting high on the bat and cracking it from the handle. Hayden, who is known to carry almost as many bats in his kit-bag as Sourav Ganguly, hurled it in the air with disgust.

He took a time-out and returned with two bats for the remaining of his net session, but it8217;s been the interruption in his scoring that has really been bothering the burly Australian. Team India have worked him out this series with left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan now having scalped him eight times in 11 Tests. Starved of individual contests after the mass exodus of Australian greats, and with Ishant Sharma interfering with the traditional Ricky Ponting-Harbhajan Singh rivalry, the contest between Hayden and Zaheer has been garnering a fair amount of attention. And, so far, it8217;s been a rather one-sided contest in favour of the Indian.

8220;When a bowler is successful against you, he knows he8217;s got certain strategies that are working for him. But I believe in my heart that I8217;ve been extremely successful against Zaheer in the past and I believe he knows it as well. So it8217;s a good fight,8221; Hayden said at the Kotla on Sunday.

8220;Zaheer8217;s temperament, as we saw, it was revealed the other day by his send-off,8221; Hayden was reported as saying later, talking of Zaheer getting fined 80 per cent of his match fees in Mohali. 8220;He loses consistency and control when he does that. It8217;s something that even if I don8217;t do play aggressively at the start for the rest of the series, it8217;s something that is in the back of his mind. And I can use that to my advantage8230; He8217;s been put under pressure a lot by myself and Adam Gilchrist in one-dayers. I8217;ve also tried to emulate that when we8217;ve played Tests. I just feel like he8217;s vulnerable when he8217;s like that.8221;

The left-handed opener, who has a peculiar way of sitting down and 8220;talking to the pitch8221; on the eve of the match, took turns at the nets to spend as much time as he could with the bat before winding down with some slip catches. 8220;For me, it8217;s a good opportunity really to spend some time in the middle. Today8217;s extended nets were to replicate what I want to do in the next 13 days. I8217;ve put in a lot of work in a month in India, but it hasn8217;t quite paid off. I8217;m still very confident with the way I8217;m playing. It8217;s little bit of rub of the green I guess and a big score is round the corner,8221; Hayden said.

Interestingly, even as Hayden shed some extra sweat, Zaheer had an easy build-up to the Test. He arrived with the team around afternoon, took part in the training session with his right forearm wrapped in a bandage and didn8217;t send down a single ball at the nets. Zaheer prefers to go flat out two days before a game, and train mildly on the eve to get him geared up for the Test.

Rahul Dravid said he8217;d seen the best of Zaheer in recent times, and he8217;s seen him for several years from his vantage position in the slips. 8220;I think he8217;s hitting the right areas consistently. His rhythm is fantastic. Standing in the slips, I can see how good Ishant and Zaheer8217;s rhythm has been. Zak has put in a lot in his bowling, and that8217;s showing now.8221;

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Zaheer and Ishant8217;s ability to get early reverse swing in Mohali seemed to be playing on Australia8217;s mind during their first practice session at the Ferozeshah Kotla. Stuart Clark, Brett Lee, Johnson and Peter Siddle, all tried cross-seam to scruff up one part of the ball.

Hayden said he believed the batsmen were capable of handling the swing. 8220;Whenever we come to India, the talk is always about spin bowling 8212; it8217;s been that way for a long time. But reverse swing is also something Australian cricket has come across in the past. We know it8217;s a weapon in the modern game with wickets playing good and hard. When I first started playing cricket, there used to be greener conditions which allowed conventional swing. It8217;s a part of the modern-day game to combat that, and I think our strategy is good enough,8221; he said.

Seldom has an Australian team looked as shell-shocked as they did in Mohali, and with India looking for their eighth successive win at Kotla, the 22-yard strip will play a vital role, as will the early combat between Hayden and Zaheer.