Matthew Hayden reveals role Tom Cruise played in turning around his career

Former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden is one of the most explosive openers the world has ever seen. The brawny batsman's name was enough to send the chills down the spines of the bowlers. Matthew Hayden's aggression at the top of the order irrespective of the format was a delight to watch for many cricket fans in the 2000s.

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The southpaw was a vital cog of the Australian team that dominated world cricket for the major part of the first decade of the 21st century. Matthew Hayden wasted no time before launching his assault as he went berserk on bowlers from word go. Recently, Matthew Hayden revealed the name of a movie that had a major impact on his career.

Matthew Hayden names Tom Cruise's that had major impact on his career

While speaking to Shane Watson on his podcast Lessons Learnt With The Greats, Matthew Hayden revealed that he was inspired by Tom Cruise's iconic movie The Last Samurai. Matthew Hayden said that Tom Cruise's movie left a long-lasting impact on his cricketing career as he learned to completely shut off the past and focus on the present. He added that the learning from Tom Cruise's movie went on to become his biggest strength, which is focussing on the next ball.

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According to foxsports.com.au, Matthew Hayden said that there is a stillness and a beauty in batting which is a meditation in itself that he misses a lot post retirement. Hayden likened batting to a connection purely around having nothing but an empty vessel to work with so that one can absorb and retain information quicker. He added that batting is about reaction time, the early pick-up,  being really settled with conditions, personally satisfied as well as having lot of confidence. Hayden called these '101s of meditation' since even if one of those elements go wrong, chances of getting dismissed widen. 

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Matthew Hayden, who made his debut in 1994, couldn't really consolidate his place in the mighty Australian side initially. The southpaw played his second Test in 1996, only to be dropped after six games. However, he returned to the side in 2000 and after a breakout tour of India in 2001, where he scored more than 500 runs, there was no turning back for the Australian as he finished his career with an average of 50 in Tests and 44 in ODIs.

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IMAGE COURTESY: MATTHEW HAYDEN TWITTER