Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden created a lot of buzzes when he used an unusual bat called mongoose bat while playing for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2010. The southpaw played a blistering knock of 93 against Delhi Daredevils using that bat and guided his side to a five-wicket win. However, not many CSK players were in favour of using the special bat including Dhoni. In fact, the Aussie star revealed that Dhoni urged him to not use the mongoose bat. However, Hayden convinced the CSK skipper and wreaked havoc against the Delhi bowlers. Matthew Hayden’s 93 With Mongoose Bat My Favourite IPL Moment, Says Suresh Raina.

“It’s hard to give perspective on the mongoose bat. I get a lot of questions about this product. From player’s point of view, they often ask how can you use half a bat. I remember MS Dhoni saying, ‘mate, I will give you anything in life you want not to use this bat. Please do not use this bat’,” Hayden revealed while talking to TV presenter Rupa Ramani in a video for CSK Live.

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“And I said to MS, ‘mate, I have been practising at the nets with this bat for about a year and a half and I am telling you, when it hits the middle of the bat, it goes 20m further’. That’s just the fact, the balls just disappear off this thing and they go forever,” he added.

Speaking about why he chose the bat, Hayden said that he did a lot of practice with the product and was confident about delivering with his new weapon. “I was not going to put my franchise at risk and have a bad performance. I had done my homework on this product, I was ready to use it. I was ready to trade it as well. Sometimes, I use it through the middle stages of the match, I would not come out necessarily straight off. This became a strategic tool,” Hayden said further.

However, the bat with a long handle and short blade didn’t enjoy a great run after Hayden’s heroics as various types of shortcomings were observed in the bat and thus, not many batsmen sported the product.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 09, 2020 11:24 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).