Matthew Hayden is a big fan of Sourav Ganguly and feels he started the give-it-back policy for rivals in Indian cricket. He praised the former captain on Day 1 of the third Test between India and Australia at the Gabba when Sunil Gavaskar got uncomfortable.

Ganguly, the Indian captain on the tour of Australia in 2003, was under the pump for his form and was being targeted by the media. In the first Test in Brisbane, he gave a befitting reply to critics by scoring 144 runs off 196 balls in India’s first innings. The southpaw played dominated the offside and went on to hit 18 fours. The match ended in a draw, with Ganguly getting the Player of the March because of his team’s dominating position.

Speaking on Star Sports, Hayden highlighted the aggressive attitude of the Player. “He was sensational in that knock. Ganguly was called a failure evn before he l;anded in Australia and he actually give a reply to his critics with the help of his bat. I would say that he started the revolution in the Indian cricket where the team wouldn’t lightly take anything from the rivals and the players would hit back when needed. It was Ganguly who told the players to be aggresive instead of just becoming a nice travelling team,” Hayden said.

Surprisingly, Gavaskar didn’t like the words and even took a dig at Ganguly. “We had managed to draw two series in Australia in the past and chest thumping and reacting aggressively doesn’t make you the only player that had fire burning inside. MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman never behaved like that, but it doesn’t mean that they didn’t have a fire inside them. I would say that Ganguly showed his class in that innings and made Australian media to take a note of his talent,” Gavaskar said.