Haddin battered and bruised in Bangalore … and loving it

The bruises on Brad Haddin's chest are still tender, each one a painful reminder of the toughest test of his wicketkeeping life. But as Zaheer Khan discovered in Bangalore last week, Australia's new wicketkeeper is not the type to shirk a contest.

"It's in my nature that I'm competitive and I don't like to lose," Haddin said as he prodded at the spots where cricket balls kicked up off the unpredictable Bangalore pitch and thudded into his body.

Haddin conceded 23 byes in the first innings and 16 in the second, a record for Australia-India Tests, but the 30-year-old will front up for the second Test in Mohali unfazed by his punishing introduction to Test cricket in India or his confrontation with Zaheer, who unleashed a verbal tirade and marched into his personal space after Haddin chipped a remark from behind the stumps.

"It wasn't much at all," said Haddin, a combative character with a rugby league background as a five-eighth with the Queanbeyan Kangaroos. "It was two competitive guys going at it, trying to get a result. It was fixed out on the field and it was beat up a bit more than I expected. I suppose it's a lesson learnt, really.

"I didn't take too much notice after it, I just turned away and got on with business. It's not something I really thought too much about until I got told about it from home. I'm an aggressive person by nature and I like to keep the game moving forward but I am not going to go out of my way to say something to other players or make any big statements about going at the Indian players. It's a hard enough job wicketkeeping over here."

That much became obvious very early in the first Test. Haddin had spoken at length to Ian Healy before the series about the unique demands of keeping in India, and stood a full five metres closer to the stumps than he would in Australia. The uneven bounce caused some balls to roll along the ground and others to sail over his outstretched gloves.

"It's quite different," Haddin said. "The catch you've got to be up close for is the slash that does take off and you've just got to react to."

All the while he tried not to let the rising byes tally mess with his mind.

"That is one of the things that can make you successful over here and it's one of the things that can eat away at you," he said.

"If you do look up and there's a lot of byes, you've got to be mentally tough in yourself to say, 'Well, you know what, you're actually not going that bad.' Sometimes over here you just can't do anything about them.