Australia have arguably been the most dominant team in the 21st century. It has been possible because of great leadership and players.?
While Ricky Pointing's Australia dominated world cricket and won back-to-back World Cups in 2003 and 2007, Michael Clarke led the Aussies to another triumph on home soil in 2015.
There has been no dearth of leaders in Australian side, and it all stems from the legendary Steve Waugh.?Steve Waugh captained Australia in 57 Tests for 41 Test wins, the highest winning percentage in history. Under his leadership, Australia entrenched their position as the best cricket nation on earth, in both the long form and short form.
Not to forget their second World Cup win in 1999 under Waugh. The title came after 12 years of wait.?
Waugh, a believer in the virtues of getting out of your comfort zone, trying to learn from others. He immersed himself in the environment, accepted the situation for what it is and then adjusted himself.??
For Waugh it was all about his ability to instill into the team the self-belief that would embolden them to take risks.
He once famously said:?"I tried to get across to the team that no matter what the status of the game or how your form was, if you believed you were good enough to win you were a big chance to do that – so we would always try to play for a win firstly."
He had a shrewd mentality and only cared about winning. You could see Steve Waugh and see that look on his face - nothing less than a victory would do. After making Australia a superpower in the longest format of the game, he shifted focus to winning the World Cup.?
His team had the opportunity to transition their Test format dominance to one day crciket. With Waugh as the leader, you could sense it before the start of the tournament - Australia were going to be the team to beat.?
That is what they did - playing some wonderful crciket and showing character in moments that mattered. Australia beat Pakistan in a one-side final by 8 wickets. Chasing a modest score of 133, Australian batsman made light work of the chase.?
The World Cup win was a testament to Steve Waugh's leadership - winning is all that matters.?