The priceless urn of Ashes Oz loves

Their penchant for the colour yellow apart, there is a striking similarity between the Australian cricket team and Chennai Super Kings. Both are professional but play their matches calmly, and the result is telling.

 Australia, in particular, has ruled the cricketing world since as far back as one’s memory can go, with their dominance over the coveted Ashes being the most mollifying.

You don’t beat the Englishmen time and again at their own game and not thump your chest over the achievement. There has to be something special about Australia for them to have held the Ashes for approximately 82.5 years to England’s 55.5 years in its 138-year history.

To the keen observer, that something special is evident in all aspects of the team game, beginning with the captain, and rightly so. Double or single, it is the engine that leads the train to its destination.

Be it Allan Border, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke or Steve Smith, they have all led their side with a cool head, earning them success even when they may not have been considered favourites.

A crunch situation, many of which the “glorious game of uncertainties” can throw up, is best tackled with cool composure. For the Australian team, there has never been a dearth of match winning knocks by their crucial players.

Interestingly, they always show up in the crunch game.

Most enviably, Adam Gilchrist has a 100 per cent success record when it comes to his centuries winning the match for his team. Offence, they say, is the best form of defence.

This holds good in all forms of cricket today when nobody is any longer playing out even a Test draw. Team Australia has almost always been vested with attacking batters, starting from the openers and going all the way to maybe their number eight.

They take on the bowlers with the intent to attack, pushing even the best of them on the back foot. It’s a known thing that the Aussies are the masters of the mind game, and that’s where most matches are won – or lost.

They just don’t give up. Faced with a massive near-400 score on the first day of an away game would bog down most teams, but not the men from Down Under.

Losing a wicket or two in the last twenty minutes of the day’s play last week would have tilted the game England’s way, making Ben Stokes’ strategy click. But that wasn’t to be. In the closely-fought contest, they always stayed that decisive inch ahead.

Right until the last ball was bowled. No matter if the pressure to get to a daunting target was nerve-wracking. From composed captains to match-winning performances and a fearless attacking approach, they excel in the mind game and stay ahead in closely-fought contests.

Their champion mindset is what sets them apart and will aid them in the quest to retain the priceless urn.