BRAD HADDIN had been looking forward to the hostility of the India-Australia conflict, but the wicketkeeper created a monster when he sledged Zaheer Khan on Saturday during a torrid first outing with the gloves in Bangalore.
Zaheer declined to reveal the nature of the remark that triggered a "Zak Attack", with both teams counselled to refrain from inflaming such situations after the volcanic events of last summer.
However, local broadcast sources have deduced from the footage that the enraged paceman suggested Haddin keep his mouth shut in light of the Australians' pre-series commitments to play in the spirit of the game.
The uneasy peace between the sides was threatened as Zaheer and Australia's old antagonist, Harbhajan Singh, frustrated the Australians with an 80-run stand to change the momentum of the Test late on the third day.
Zaheer, who yesterday continued his defiance to top-score with 57, turned and advanced towards Haddin in apparent response to a remark from the wicketkeeper, and the pair continued their angry exchange before an afternoon shower halted play. According to a source from host broadcaster Neo Sports, Zaheer demanded captain Ricky Ponting control his player and said he would not back down as the teams left the field.
Ponting appeared to calm Zaheer and defuse the situation, and match referee Chris Broad did not receive any reports from the umpires.
Haddin is a combative character who said before the series that he loved to scrap and was desperate to experience the intensity of cricket in India.
He would have hoped, though, for a kinder surface than the treacherous pitch on which he was forced to grasp some balls from around his ankles and watch others fly over the top of his outstretched gloves for four.
Faced with the unenviable task of replacing the incomparable Adam Gilchrist, Haddin finished with one of his less desirable records, conceding more byes (23) than any Australian in an innings against India. The previous record was the 19 conceded by Gilchrist in Madras in 2001.
Haddin knew this series would test his glovework and his emotions, having experienced the noise and the pressure during last year's fractious one-day series, albeit as a specialist batsman.
"There's so many people here and you're out right in the middle of it and it is quite hostile but it's something you've got to deal with and another challenge you're looking forward to," he said before the series.
"I think it's important over here as a keeper that your tempo's consistent, because you do get long, hot days and it can get quite draining. You don't want to be high at the start and have low patches and fluctuate too much during the game.
"You've got to make sure you have an even tempo so your game and the fielding is on an even keel."
Haddin took two crucial catches to dismiss V.V.S. Laxman and Singh, but Zaheer's outburst evoked memories of Trent Bridge last year, when the Indian paceman waved his bat angrily at Kevin Pietersen after the English side tossed jelly beans on the pitch and Pietersen later bowled his country to victory.
This time, both sides played down the confrontation.
"Zaheer never told me anything and I never asked," Rahul Dravid said. "It's a part and parcel of the international game, and I don't think there was anything serious. If anything serious had happened, he would have mentioned it."
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