"He has got a good wingman in Steve Smith" - Matthew Hayden on the former captain being ideal foil for Pat Cummins at the 2023 World Cup

Former Australian batter Matthew Hayden feels that Steve Smith can play a vital role during the ICC World Cup in assisting skipper Pat Cummins to overcome his inexperience at the ODI level.

Despite leading the team in 21 Tests, Cummins has only captained the side in two ODIs following the retirement of Aaron Finch. During the tour of India earlier this year, the champion pacer was back home, and former captain Steve Smith took over the reins, leading the side to a 2-1 series win.

Steve Smith has captained Australia in 54 ODIs, something Hayden believes will help massively during the high-pressure tournament. In a conversation during a recent event in Mumbai, Matthew Hayden said:

"It's got to help, there's no doubt about it. But between the other characters like Steve Smith - you've seen how visible he is when Pat's got the ball in his hand, he's flapping around as he busily does anyway. But he has got a good wingman in Steve Smith as well, again with lots of experience. So, I'm not saying it's a team captaincy, but I think it's a solution that Australia's got covered."

The former great further pointed out that the Aussies have always had an experienced captain heading into a World Cup in contrast to the upcoming edition.

"We've always had a very settled Australian captain with vast experience when you think back to the World Cups - Allan Border's World Cup-winning effort here in India [in 1987], [had] lots of experience," Hayden added. "It was a legacy captaincy, and you could go right down through the ages: Ricky Ponting, [and] Michael Clarke - all World Cup winners, and all [with] vast experience."

Australia is the most successful side in ODI World Cups, winning the tournament on five occasions.

They won for the first time in 1987 before three-peating between 1999 to 2007 and winning again at home in 2015.

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"A specialist opening in a World Cup is important" - Matthew Hayden

The left-handed duo at the top will be vital to Australia's chances at the World Cup.

Matthew Hayden stressed having specialist openers in the World Cup and said that Mitchell Marsh can do the job as a floater in the batting lineup.

The duo of David Warner and Travis Head have had tremendous success opening the batting in ODIs, including a record 269-run partnership at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) against England last year.

"[Travis] Head and Warner, I think, are your key openers," Hayden said. "[Mitchell] Marsh can do a job. But in all conditions, when you look at the role that Marsh is going to play as an allrounder, I think a specialist opening in a World Cup is important. But if you're an Australian coach, you'd have no question going, 'We want Marsh to come up and open.'"

"And his role can float in and around the order on any given day if they need to have quick runs inside the powerplay, for example, rather than, well, you talk about Travis; he's still got a strike rate of 96. So it's still an enormous strike rate. But Marsh can be someone that can have an impact at the top if on any given day they need to have a bigger powerplay than any other given opportunity," he added.

Mitchell Marsh was in red-hot form opening the batting in Australia's 2-1 series win in India a few months back, scoring 197 runs at an average of 97 and a strike rate of 131.

He will lead the T20 (regular captain) and ODI sides (due to injuries to Pat Cummins and Steve Smith) in the upcoming South African tour, starting August 30.