Steve Waugh

Much like his predecessors Allan Border and Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh was also a temple of mental stamina and patience with a large sprinkling of aggression to boot. If the two captains before him established a work culture for the Australian cricket team en route to being the best side in the world, Waugh was responsible for infusing ruthlessness and a winning habit into the side. Under Waugh, Australia weren't just winning games, they were destroying opponents, especially in Tests where the team redefined the way red-ball cricket was played. His captaincy was pivotal to this and so was his dogged style of batting where the modus operandi was to tire out the bowlers and then, feast on them.

His career as a whole was a stark contrast to the time he started out in international cricket as a raw youngster who was being baptized by fire against the furious West Indians. Here was a lad who could bat decently and also roll out useful medium-pacers to stifle the opposition's scoring rate. His ability to hold his nerve especially while bowling at the death earned him the nickname Iceman. Steve was as cool as they come even in the face of adversity and this showed in his progress as a player. Having made his international debut in the 1985-86 season, it took a while for him to find his feet in Tests but Steve embraced the ODI format instantly and also had a moderate time in Australia's 1987 World Cup title.

It was shortly after the World Cup win that his twin brother Mark Waugh joined the national team and the brothers as a combination went on to produce several magnificent partnerships for the team. Steve had started to shed his initial brawn and raw energy while a more composed and cool temperament replaced those. From 1993 onwards, Steve's career hit top gear across both formats as he made runs for fun, especially in the longer format while his white-ball career continued to be consistent. In 1995, he played a vital part in Australia upsetting West Indies for the first time in 20 years, a masterful double century setting up the series win and from then on, his team ruled the roost in world cricket.

Much like his twin brother Mark, Steve also relished playing on the big stage - be it the World Cups or the Ashes, he just plundered runs. Waugh didn't have a particularly pretty technique or batting stance but it was mighty effective. He was always willing to fight it out, even if it meant to look ugly at times. The efficiency was all that he cared about as he built his knocks brick by brick, blunting the opposition bowlers to submission. He was also a fantastic player of spin - a quality that not many non-Asian players had, especially not the Australians. In ODIs, Waugh batted with a calculated mind and focused a lot on rotating the strike before launching the big shots when set. Who can forget his tournament-turning century against South Africa in the 1999 World Cup? From there on, the Aussies went on a roll to claim their second ever World Cup title.

As a captain, Waugh was unfazed even in the most trickiest of situations and this helped the Australians to get across the line in such scenarios. His attacking style of captaincy saw the team being the most verbally aggressive side in the world, often getting under the skins of the opposition. Although not a commonly accepted tactic, he carried it out efficiently himself and goaded his mates to do the same. His partner in crime was the champion leg spinner Shane Warne as the duo would control the side's on-field activities to unsettle the opposition. Waugh was also the first captain who thought proactively in Tests, calling his teammates to adopt a free-wheeling style of strokeplay to ensure that the bowlers had enough time to take 20 wickets. It revolutionized the format and with time, the other teams also took the cue.

Despite all the achievements, Steve's career, ODIs in particular ended on a sour note. After the VB Series disaster in 2002 when Australia failed to make the final in the tri-series that featured South Africa and New Zealand, both the Waugh brothers were booted from the squad. For Steve, it was a straight removal from captaincy and into the sidelines, out of the squad. Needless to say, it hurt him big and although Mark retired from international cricket in the same year, Steve continued to lead the Test side and was making a fair amount of runs as well. However, with Ricky Ponting rising quickly up the ranks and also leading Australia to their third World Cup title in 2003, the pressure was certainly on Steve and he finally bid farewell in the 2003-04 home series against India. He ended in style, producing a match-saving 80 to deny the Indians of what would have been a historic series win.

Off the field, Waugh was a pioneer in charity, setting up a lot of homes in Calcutta for the leprosy patients. He was a frequent visitor to India for the same and as time went by, he started spreading this to other parts of the world, notably in Australia itself. He has also been an active social worker in his country although he has rubbished reports of entering politics. His son Austin Waugh is following the same footsteps and was a part of the Australian U19 team that played in the 2018 World Cup. A leader, determined batsman and an inspiration to his mates, Steve Waugh was iconic to Australia's rise as a dominant team.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan