SPORTS

Tendulkar, Dravid laud Hayden

By Ashish Magotra
October 11, 2003 00:26 IST

Matthew Hayden's record-breaking feat on Friday, in the first Test between Australia and Zimbabwe, evoked fulsome praise from the Indian and New Zealand team members in Ahmedabad.

Hayden scored 380 off 434 balls, slamming 38 fours and 11 sixes, to eclipse West Indies' Brian Lara's record of 375.

Only five players -- Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Nathan Astle and Stephen Fleming -- have scored double centuries among both the sides and the significance of the knock was not lost on them.

The Indians were magnanimous in their praise while the Kiwis were slightly wary of their Trans-Tasmanian rival.

Here's what some of the players had to say about the record-breaking innings:

Sachin Tendulkar: Great performance, great knock! You can't plan such innings, they just happen. You have to go with the flow. Congratulations to Hayden.

Rahul Dravid: Great knock. Because of our match, unfortunately, I was unable to watch it. But the fact that he has scored so many runs is incredible. It took me a long time to score my double hundred (222) in this match. With him [Hayden], the way he bats, scoring is obviously faster. A great achievement; a lot of runs.

V V S Laxman: Scintillating knock. The greatest thing about this knock was that it was very positive. Quick runs and big runs. I saw parts of his innings yesterday and he was just fabulous. He scored his runs in around 430 balls and at a strike rate of over 80. Simply awesome!

Nathan Astle: That's a lot of runs! Helluva effort to get so many. Anytime you score so many runs it is always a great effort. Well done to him!

Stephen Fleming: Great effort, but for the moment I got my own match to concentrate on.

Ashish Magotra

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