Hayden turns Bhajji admirer

His "obnoxious weed" comments seemed a thing of distant past as Australia's Matthew Hayden on Thursday turned an ardent admirer of Harbhajan Singh, praising the Indian offie for moving on in life after the racism row in Australia last summer.

"Harbhajan Singh or Andrew Symonds, both have moved on in life after that row," said Hayden, who went on to describe the volatile Indian offie as an "obnoxious weed" after the controversial Sydney Test.

"I rather admire Harbhajan for the way he has gone about his cricket in the ongoing series so far. He has been a pleasure to watch and a great challenge for our batsman," Hayden said.

"He has also played in the right spirit of the game in the series," the Australian said.

Asked why is it that a cloud of tension always hovers over an India-Australia series, Hayden came up with a theory of his own.

"I think if two hungry dogs are pushed into the rings, it's bound to have tension," said the towering Australian.

"In a Test match, the tension is mounted over five days and it's only likely that every now and then, there would be some tension. Every player wants to show that extra competitive edge," he said.

Looking at the ongoing series, Hayden said it has been more or less a hassle-free affair with the lonely indiscretion being Zaheer Khan fined 80 per cent match fees for his celebration after Hayden got out in Mohali.

"So far, two Test matches have been played really well with the lone indiscretion being the case which was brought to (Match Referee) Chris Broad's notice. Both the teams played good cricket and India got the better of us in the last," Hayden said.

Hayden admitted Shane Warne's absence has left a huge void in Australian side and said, "Any side which suddenly does not have Warne is at a huge disadvantage. He is an incredible athlete over two decades of cricket and has performed incredibly."