Revealed: The classic pop song Australia’s World Cup heroes were inspired by after Pat Cummins told them to silence India’s fans in the final
- A pop song inspired Australia to World Cup glory
- READ: Australia defeated India to be crowned world champions
- Simon and Garfunkel’s song motivated Pat Cummins’ side
The Australian cricket team was inspired to World Cup glory by a Simon and Garfunkel song, it has been revealed.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Pat Cummins’ six-wicket win over India in Ahmedabad can be explained by two key components of their preparation for the stunning victory in India.
First, coach Andrew McDonald and Cummins tasked the team analysts to come up with a compelling argument that would convince the pair not to bowl first if they won the toss. The statistics were unable to make a sufficiently convincing argument.
Second, the Aussies listened to Simon and Garfunkel’s soothing song The sound of silence to help him prepare for the 130,000 rowdy Indian fans that awaited them.
“Sound of Silence was a small part of a presentation at a team meeting,” a team spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday.
Australia were inspired by a pop song from the 1960s prior to their World Cup triumph
Captain Pat Cummins and coach Andrew McDonald knew how to motivate their players
One verse reads, “And in the naked light I saw 10,000 people, maybe more, people talking without speaking, people hearing without listening, people writing songs that voices never share, no one daring to disturb the sound of silence.”
Australia managed to silence the Indian crowd. The first blow came when Travis Head took a stunning catch to dismiss Rohit Sharma, before the batsman reached the boundary and smashed 137 runs to guide his side to victory.
“You knew you were coming across something really special,” Cummins said after the game. “And then walking out for the toss and just seeing 130,000 Indian blue shirts; it’s an experience you’ll never forget…
On the eve of the final, the team listened to ‘The Sound of Silence’ by Simon and Garfunkel
‘[It was an] great day, and the good thing was they weren’t too loud most of the day.’
The men’s cricket team isn’t the only Australian national team to take inspiration from a pop song during a World Cup campaign.
Earlier this year the Matildas, the Australian women’s football team, used Nikki Webster’s Kissing strawberries as their anthem during their campaign. Sam Kerr’s team reached the semi-finals.