ICC World Cup: Aussie team representing Phillip Hughes in this WC, says Neil D'Costa

Sydney Few cricket professionals would have known the late Phillip Hughes better than Neil DrsquoCostaIn 2006 Hughes then just 17 packed his cricket kit to move from his home in Macksville in Northern New South Wales to the hustle and bustle of big city life in Sydney to train under coach DrsquoCosta who had then just helped Michael Clarke find his feet at the highest level DrsquoCosta 44 and Hughes went on to form a strong bond with the youngster looking up to him as more of a parent than a coach given that his folks lived miles awayAustralia skipper Michael Clarke during the World Cup semifinal against India on Thursday PicGetty ImagesMitchell Starc is another famous DrsquoCosta disciple with the coach having transformed the youngster from a wicketkeeper to a pace sensation He has also trained current India pacer Umesh Yadav between 2008 and 2011 when he was head coach of the Vidarbha Cricket Association academy in NagpurPhillip HughesDrsquoCosta has Indian roots having been born in Chennai then Madras and even spent his early years there before shifting Down Under where he went on to play Grade cricket and then armed with a degree in sports science embarked upon a successful coaching careerNeil DrsquoCostaIn an interview with midday DrsquoCosta spoke about Indiarsquos semifinal defeat his famous wards and the late Hughes among other things Excerptsgtgt On the India vs Aus semifinalI was definitely going for India after all dil hai Hindustani But Australia played really well on the day and deserved to go into the finalgtgt On his wards Yadav and StarcIrsquom very happy for them and being a coach I canrsquot pick a favourite so I wanted both of them to do well And to their credit they did whatever they did pretty well Unfortunately things didnrsquot pan out too well for Umesh The Australia batsmen just got away from him and then he just couldnrsquot catch upgtgt On Phillip Hughes serving a motivation to AustraliaThe Australian team has been viewing that Hughesrsquo demise as a motivation all the time They view this World Cup as a way of saying lsquoHey we wanna do this for Philliprsquo And I think thatrsquos going to continue Besides if you see the discipline they have inculcated since that incident it is very impressive In a way they are representing Phillip out there in this World Cup It has helped them focus and it will be great if they can continue to galvanise and use him as a motivation to win the tournamentgtgt On Phil Hughesrsquo World Cup dreams if anyMost young players who take up cricket or any other game for that matter dream of playing for their country some day And Phillip did he played 26 Tests and 25 ODIs But I donrsquot think he was at a stage where he could think too far ahead in his career as he was in and out of the national team So the World Cup was not really discussed by us As a coach you have to take things then and there and not think too much about the future so thatrsquos what I did toogtgt On the Australia vs New Zealand finalItrsquoll be a very good game I think what goes against New Zealand is that they have not played a single game of this tournament in Australia Though they have beaten the Aussies in the league stage I donrsquot think that will have any bearing in the final because at the MCG on Sunday the conditions will be totally different from what theyrsquove experience back home I donrsquot want to predict a winner but Australia do have a slight advantage playing at home