As this year’s Indian Premier League enters the final straight in South Africa there can be no doubt that Matthew Hayden has been the tournament’s most effective player.
In a format that urges batsmen to take risks at a frenetic rate, consistency over a period of time seems an unachievable dream.
And yet it’s something the Chennai Super Kings opener has accomplished in amassing an extraordinary 426 runs from nine matches, averaging 47.33 at a strike rate of 151 runs per 100 balls.
PHOTO: AP
It’s a record that stands Hayden head and shoulders above all other batsmen in the 2009 IPL, securing the orange cap which signifies the tournament’s top run-scorer.
Even more staggering than the fact that he has made over 100 runs more than his closest competitor for the cap is that he has thrashed 30 runs or more in all but one of his nine innings.
It’s been a phenomenal effort from a player who was effectively forced into international retirement in January by a poor run of form that started in India last year.
After calling time on his career, Hayden did not hit a cricket ball for almost three months.
Just a week before the IPL season began he returned to the nets for some pre-tournament preparation.
However, he insists the peace of mind brought about by his retirement from the international game has done him wonders.
“The only reason that I’m playing the way I am now is because I have retired. I have been able to let go of the fact that I don’t want to play international cricket,” he told cricinfo.com this week.
“I know that I’ve only got a very short time playing cricket in this particular period, so I’ve got all my mind, skills and fitness towards the IPL,” he said.
“This is not the case with most other international players, who know they will leave this tournament and head straight to the Twenty20 World Cup, and then another international series, then the domestic cricket next summer — it is just never-ending cricket,” Hayden said.
The Super Kings are near certainties for the semi-finals, having recovered from a slow start to record five wins on the trot, with Hayden fronting that charge.
As someone who believes attaining peak mental condition is equally important to physical wellbeing, Hayden achieves the balance by going surfing and has taken full advantage of South Africa’s seas.
“During this tournament I’ve spent more time on the ocean than I have on a cricket field,” he said.
“It does give me an edge, because in a tournament which is played over half a day and when you play every other day, there is a lot of time spent on thinking cricket. You need to have a balance in life,” Hayden said.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
RSS