"I meet Matthew Hayden as if he is my long lost brother"- Harbhajan Singh on his relationship with former Australian players amidst BGT 2024-25
Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh dismissed the lingering effects of the on-field rivalries he had with Australian players during his playing days. India and Australia faced each other several times across formats in the 2000s during the prime of Harbhajan's career.
While the closely fought battles thrilled fans around the globe, the India-Australia matches were not short of controversies between the players from both teams.
Despite often being at the center of the action in India-Australia clashes, Harbhajan dismissed any carry-over with former Australian players post-retirement.
Speaking on Star Sports' Time-Out, he talked about sharing a brother-like relationship with former Australian opener Matthew Hayden.
"Those memories are confined to the ground. Now, I meet Matthew Hayden as if he is my long lost brother. Because we work in broadcasting, we work for the same production house, we work for Star Sports. So, all those things have mellowed down. Those memories are for the field. In the IPL, when you start sharing the dressing room with each other, you get to know each other better," said Harbhajan via Business Standard.
He added:
"So, I understood that just like us, they also work hard for their team. They work hard to make their country win. In that, everything is fair. Like in love and war, everything is fair. So, when you are on the field, everything is right. But things shouldn't extend beyond the field. Giving each other those fiery looks should be limited to the field only."
Harbhajan and Hayden were involved in several intense battles during the 2000s, none more so than the thrilling 2001 series in India. The three-match affair saw the former finishing as the leading wicket-taker and the latter the leading run-scorer.
"You get to know how good of a player you are when you play against a bigger team like Australia" - Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh feels a player's true caliber would reflect when playing against a dominant side like Australia.
The champion spinner enjoyed incredible success across formats against the Aussies. He finished with 129 wickets in 58 matches, including seven five-wicket hauls.
"It was our job. We were playing to win against Australia. You get to know how good of a player you are when you play against a bigger team like Australia, and Australia was a very good team. They were the number one team," said Harbhajan.
He added:
"If you want to know your capabilities, you have to play against the best. That's what we did. We tried. We tried and stayed determined. Whenever we played against Australia, we had to put in some extra effort. Because they were a very good team."
Meanwhile, India and Australia are currently going at it in a five-Test series down under. The former hold a 1-0 advantage after a dominant 295-run win in the opening Test in Perth.