Adelaide, March 18, (IANS) Australia's World Cup-winning captain Steve Waugh joined his countrymen here on Wednesday to help reassure the players they can cope with the pressure of entering the knockout stage of the cricket tournament.
The four-time World Champions face Pakistan in the quarter-finals on Friday to book a place in the mega-event semi-final.
Coach Darren Lehmann's strategy of having former greats gracing their dressing room has paid off quite well. Waugh joined the squad for their training session at Adelaide Oval, in preparation for their day-nighter against Pakistan -- the team the Waugh-led Australia beat in the 1999 final.
The Australian great played 493 international matches (both Tests and one-day internationals) scoring a total 18,496 runs in both formats of the game. He led the Baggy Greens in 163 international matches and won 108 of them.
The intent of recruiting Waugh is that players can seek advice from him, or simply just ask him to share his experiences, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.
Australia's opener Aaron Finch welcomed the presence of the legend among their squad.
"He's been good. We had a team dinner on Tuesday night and we had a quick chat before we headed off from there. It wasn't anything that was really planned. Guys just threw a few questions out at him," Finch said.
"It was good to sit down over dinner with him and just chat about cricket really, and World Cups. He's obviously captained a winning one (1999) and played in another one as well (1987). There's not many better-credentialled players to talk to about it," he added.
Given less than half of Australia's squad has World Cup experience, Finch said, for him and many of his teammates this was a career pinnacle.
"Absolutely. It's a lot of our first World Cups. It's an exciting time," he said.
"The beauty of our team is we don't fear losing. Yes it's knockout but as soon as you're worried about losing a game you tighten up and you don't play with your natural flair. That's what a lot of our chat has been about," the 28-year-old right-handed batsman said.
Covid cases have started declining once again in the country. The Health Ministry said on Friday
Attack Trailer: The trailer of Bollywood's muscular man John Abraham's film Attack has been relea
After a prolonged standoff in Parliament, Rahul Gandhi participated in the debate on Budget 2026
After Ranveer Allahabadia's objectionable statement in Samay Raina's show 'India's Got Latent', h
Vajpayee to be conferred Bharat Ratna on Friday
New Delhi, March 25 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee will present the Bharat Ratna to former p
Imran's container crushed the journalist: he was pushed, the question - is it an accident or murder
A female journalist was crushed to death by a container on Sunday in the Long March of former Pak
The mobiles of Muskan and Sahil, accused in the Saurabh murder case, are being made necessary evi
New Delhi: After the death of former President Pranab Mukherjee, there is a wave of mourning acro
If the situation remains terrible in India, then the world will be the same: USIBC President
If the situation in India remains dreadful due to Corona, then the situation of the world will al
Severe cold in North India: dense fog in Delhi; More than 100 flights canceled on Wednesday
Winter is increasing in the country. Alam is that Delhi has become colder than Nainital. Accordin
