New Delhi: Cricket icon Steve Waugh feels Australia can play a significant role in “helping” India become a global sporting superpower by providing expertise in key areas such as technology, high-performance coaching, sports science, and sports medicine.
Even as India dominates world cricket on and off the field, Waugh said Australia can definitely assist the country in Olympic sports.
“They don’t need any help in cricket. They do it very well in India. But they have the sports where Australia can definitely help,” Waugh said during an interaction on the sidelines of an event.
Waugh is venturing into India’s business corridors through Australia Essence, a company that he has co-founded and aims to bring premium Australian brands across food, wellness, and lifestyle to the country’s consumers.
“We have got the best of technology. The best sports science. The best sports medicine. Sports clothing. A couple of power brands in Australia, in that sporting area.
“So we have got the technology and expertise in Australia. That will definitely help India become better at sports,” the former Australia captain added.
Australia is known for its strong and vibrant sports culture and the country has consistently produced legends across disciplines, something India still lacks.
Speaking about his childhood days, Waugh reminisced, “Sport was everything to me. I went to school basically to play sport. It was sport 24×7. And then education. I fitted that in alongside sport.
“India is the other way around. Education is number one. And then you want to play a bit of sport.
“But just recently I have seen a change. There is a lot more focus on sport in schools and education institutions.
“Australia is really great at that. I know that India are very keen to have a positive influence on the world stage, not just in cricket but at the Olympics. I think Australia can really help you.”
Meeting with Mother Teresa catalyst for philanthropic efforts
The legendary player has been heavily involved in charitable work since retiring from the game, establishing the Steve Waugh Foundation in Australia to support children with rare diseases besides committing himself to supporting the Udayan home in India for children affected by leprosy.
While many of his contemporaries from the cricket fraternity got involved into coaching, commentating, and administration, Waugh, 60, actively took part in philanthropic works, a meeting with Mother Teresa in the mid 1990s proving to be the catalyst.
“It just sort of happened. I don’t really know (how I got into charity), it sort of found me.
“Just sort of happened by accident. I was on a tour to India. One of the journalists during an interview asked me was: ‘which person do you most admire in the world’? And I just said Mother Teresa.”
Waugh took advantage of an off day on the tour to visit Mother Teresa.
“We were staying at the Oberoi Hotel in Calcutta (Kolkata). We had a day off from cricket. And he said. Do you realise you can meet Mother Teresa? I said how? Pretty simple. We just go to a rickshaw for The Missionaries of Charity Mother House.
“6 am in the morning, with the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity Mother house, witnessed an early morning mass. Which is a pretty incredible time. I’m not really a church goer… I try and do the right thing. But I don’t think I’m a really religious person.
“But that (visit to Mother House) sort of convinced me that there was something definitely more there. So I was watching all these nuns praying. It was pretty surreal watching it,” he said.
1986 Test series in India ‘turning point’ for Australian cricket
Waugh has fond memories of his early days in international cricket, including his debut series in 1986 in India and the World Cup the following year, when the team triumphed after entering the tournament as rank outsiders following the departure of some of the country’s finest cricketers.
“We were probably not one of the better teams in the world back then. And we played this amazing series against India, including the tied Test in Madras.
“That was a bit of a turning point for Australian cricket. That series, we started to believe that maybe we could be a decent side again. The following year was 1987, where we were rank outsiders for the World Cup here in India.”
Waugh, a greenhorn then, played his part in the team’s maiden World Cup title triumph, his ice cool temperament crisis impressing everyone.
“We ended up winning that World Cup at Eden Gardens in front of 100,000 people. And quite incredibly in that final, we had everyone supporting us.
“Because in the semi-final, we’d be in Pakistan. And our adversaries in India would be in the semi-final. So we’d turn up at Eden Gardens and there was 100,000 people cheering for us.
“It’s the only time it’s ever happened in India. And we had people cheering for us. That was a great experience,” Waugh recalled.
PTI
