I'll give you anything, but don't use mongoose bat, when MSD told Hayden

Around 10 years ago, the then Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi was buzzing with excitement as the Daredevils had set the Chennai Super Kings a challenging target of 186. Virender Sehwag had smacked 74 of 38 balls, hitting 13 boundaries.

Then arrived Matthew Hayden to start Chennai’s innings with a mongoose bat that was almost one-fourth of his height. But the deadly combo smashed all the deliveries, scoring 93 of 43 balls and earned a victory for the CSK. It was after the match the mongoose bat grabbed the attention of cricket fans.

However, there was one important person who advised Hayden not to use the bat. It was the team’s captain, MS Dhoni. The former Australian opener shared this during a live chat on the Chennai Super Kings’ Instagram page. “I’ll give you anything you want in life to not use this bat. Please do not use this bat,” Dhoni had told Hayden.

Related News: India’s Aus tour lesser logistical issue than T20 World Cup: BCCI treasurer

However, Hayden replied that he had been using the bat for around a year and a half. “…when it hits the middle of the bat, it goes 20 metres further,” Hayden had told Dhoni. “I used it extensively and wasn’t just going to pu

t my franchise at risk and give a bad performance. I had done my homework on this product,” he said.

As he believed, Hayden single-handedly chased the target. He said more such products must be launched. “In cricket, there’s not a lot of innovation,” Hayden said.