Matthew Hayden derives almost a sadistic pleasure when he silences a choc-a-bloc Indian stadium with a match-winning knock or a brutal shot and the towering Australian opener says nothing matches the elation he gets after thrashing the Men in Blue.
Just back from an ill-tempered one day series against India, which his side won 4-2, Hayden said India had replaced England as his favourite punching bag with the bat.
"I think India is close on being my favourite side to beat. They've almost taken the number one seed off England in a lot of ways," Hayden was quoted as saying by Sydney Morning Herald.
"It's a side that within it's psyche has amazing highs and amazing lows. So it doesn't take long to realise they're at a low when you're standing in front of 70,000 people at a stadium and you can hear a pin drop.
"It's a great position to be in and you know you've got them beat," he said.
"Our ambition is to keep their crowd as quiet as we possibly can and just play good cricket. It's not a personal thing," added Hayden, an old Team India nemesis.
The hard-hitting opener said India doomed themselves by pretending to match the Australians in the aggression stake, which only ended up spurring Ricky Ponting's men to thrash them in the one day series.
"I think it's one of the greatest misconceptions of this side ever, that it's aggressive. I think what we are, it extends from our culture, is just having a great mateship and camaraderie within any kind of team," Hayden said.
"You put any 12 blokes together and you'll get a job done. Whether it's getting a bogged four-wheel-drive off the beach or standing in front of a cricket wicket and making sure we're in a dominant position. It's the same dog, different leg action, so to speak," he said.
"I think it shows an insecurity to do anything else other than that. All it really does is just amp up the intensity of the way we play our cricket. It's a good thing for us.
"You never want an Australian with his back up against the wall. We saw that last summer against England, you're seeing that now with this verbal jousting that's happening between India and Australia," Hayden said.
On his career, Hayden said he was enjoying every bit of it and was in no mood to even think about when to call it quits.
"It's been a positive in terms of my career in that I don't really look too far ahead. And I don't speculate too much, I don't get a lot of momentum about what's happened in the past either.
"I guess for me a marker is how much I'm enjoying hitting cricket balls. I can honestly say that when I pick up this bat and walk out, whether it be in the middle or in the nets, it's something I still have a tremendous passion for," he said.
"I almost feel like it's an undying passion at this stage. And until that starts to waver, I can't see myself finishing. And I know that's a ridiculous thing to say but at this stage I'm not going anywhere," he said.
