Australian legend Matthew Hayden’s emotional speech to his Pakistan players at T20 Cricket World Cup

An ’emotional’ Australian team was accused of ‘flying the white flag’ at the T20 World Cup – but impassioned former legend Matthew Hayden makes the Pakistani team do anything but.

After Pakistan secured an unlikely place in the semi-finals with a win over Bangladesh, their batting coach Hayden couldn’t contain his pride in what the underrated squad had accomplished.

A heartbreaking loss to arch-rivals India to over 90,000 fans was followed by a shocking one-point loss to Zimbabwe – and the tournament was seemingly over.

Thanks to the Netherlands upset South Africa, Pakistan could go on to win over Bangladesh, and the 103-Test veteran delivered a rousing speech to inspire his accusations with the crunch semi-final against New Zealand awaiting Wednesday.

“Whatever happened in the last three weeks, we’re here (the semi-finals). Well done. Just have a magical day and you should get the smile off my face,” Hayden said.

Transfixed players sat admiring the opener that revolutionized Test cricket as he praised his side for doing what seemed impossible to even the most ardent Pakistani supporters

Pakistani players celebrate after beating Bangladesh and reaching semi-finals

“We had a pretty good day,” Hayden laughed as he addressed the players in the locker room.

“It’s just a miracle that we see us unfold here, but even before we got to this day I felt we had this confidence in the process, we weren’t too preoccupied with our training. We had a day off and we celebrated that day off.

“I think in T20 cricket it’s one of those games that you can overplay, overtrain and overthink. And looking at this side and seeing this for a while, I think we’re such a good reactive team.

“We have the energy there, we have the commitment and the belief in each other, then the magic just unfolds. And today was a magical day.

That said, we win and we lose together. Today is a winning day and on any given day there will always be people who will lose on a winning day, but that’s for months on end, who cares,” Hayden said.

A cheering Matthew Hayden leads the press conference after Pakistan’s victory to secure a semi-final berth

Beating Bangladesh to secure a semi-final seemed a fait accompli when the opportunity presented itself, but a slow start threatened the side not to make the low total of 127.

Rather than complain about the lack of crowds at the top, Hayden begged Pakistani players to stay true to their attacking style because when they’re at their best, they terrify every team in world cricket.

“Guys, we are dangerous, just understand and appreciate that,” Hayden continued, saying he was “100 percent behind” his two openers Mohammad Rizwan (32 from 32 balls) and Babar Adam (25 from 33 balls).

“The moment the Pakistani cricket fires on purpose and begins to reveal its teeth, we become a real threat.

“There won’t be anyone in this world and this league who would want to meet us now, not one.

“They thought they got rid of us, but now they can’t get rid of us. We’re here, dug in and I really love how we’ve handled this,” said Hayden.

Star speedy Shaheen Afridi throws his arms to the sky after a wicket during Pakistan’s crucial win over Bangladesh

It’s a struggle Aussie supporters would no doubt hope their national team had shown at a World Cup at home, where motivation should have been easy to find.

After a seemingly ‘tired’ side was bombarded with barely a whimper, Australian star Glenn Maxwell said it ‘means nothing’ and the team ‘would move on pretty soon’.

It came at a time when interest in the national T20 side was at an all-time low, with the team seen by many fans as arrogant and disinterested, a point noted by many former Aussie legends such as Hayden.

‘When a national team captain says so’ [the team is fatigued] before a tournament starts, that’s a matter of white flag before it even starts…that really pisses me off,” former ODI star and prominent commentator Simon O’Donnell said on SEN radio.

“I couldn’t understand how emotionless we were… I thought we just didn’t look.”

Aussie star Glenn Maxwell reacts during the side’s game against Ireland. The host country has been bombed out of the World Cup and failed to reach the semi-finals

Australian coach Andrew McDonald did not even attend the press conference after the final game of the tournament in Australia, but instead sent bowling coach Daniel Vettori.

There was no starting gun for the continued apologies and poor performances from the side, nor was there an attempt to publicly inspire the Australian players with a few choice words to touch hearts and provoke some sort of reaction.

McDonald only landed in the role after a push from players to oust Justin Langer – Hayden’s best buddy – as coach.

Matthew Hayden (left) was devastating to Cricket Australia and the players’ treatment of close friend Justin Langer (right), with the two both passionate men with an innate ability to inspire their troops

Hayden was in tears after Langer announced his resignation, which was in effect forced, targeting the players and Cricket Australia due to the diabolical situation.

So instead of rocking Australia at a T20 World Cup at home, he sits in Pakistan’s dressing room, inspiring his heavily emotionally invested team as they prepare to take on New Zealand in Wednesday’s semi-final.

Taking on the rampaging Kiwis will of course be no small feat, but judging by the way Hayden speaks with such genuine pride about what they’ve already accomplished, he’ll be there to fan the flames in both directions. .