Watson explains why Australia are still to nail T20 format
On a one to one zoom chat with Australia’s Shane Watson, he spoke about why they have never won the T20 World Cup and said they have not consistently nailed the T20 format.
They made it to the finals of 2010 but came across a strong England team. In 2014 they came across a rampaging West Indies team who found holes in their team and in 2016 he felt Australia changed a lot of players and did not stick to a consistent squad whereas other teams kept to one squad. He hoped that if they get the combination right, Australia might make it to the semis.
He spoke about the concern about David Warner’s form but he is a quality player, he is just rusty but once he gets in to his own, he is a big tournament player.
The next team he spoke about was the defending champions West Indies, he said they are a dangerous team and that’s why they have won the World Cup twice, they have got power, and experience in players like Pollard, Bravo, Russel, Gayle, and they know how to win.
Big holes
I then asked him about Australia’s rivals England, he said Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes are missing and these are big holes to fill but they have match winners in Jos Butler and Johnny Bairstow. Eoin Morgan’s form is a concern but he is a good captain and will come good in this World Cup.
On South Africa, he felt not picking Faf du Plessis in the squad is a big mistake and they will miss him dearly. They have a good fast bowling attack in Nortje and Rabada and in Shamsi they are have a good spinner, a lot depends on Quinton de Kock and he will have to carry the burden of the team. He talked about Sri Lanka who have gone off the boil and do not have enough match winners in the team and will find it tough.
About Bangladesh, he said they are a good team, and was surprised to see them losing to Scotland, and will miss Tamim
Iqbal’s experience. They have Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman but they have too many holes in the batting to fill and will find it difficult to beat the big teams.
When I asked him about New Zealand, he said they are a good team, they always find a way to get in to the knockouts, they have a well-balanced team and if they all get together they will again make it to the knockouts. They have a captain in Williamson who is a great leader.
About Afghanistan, he is concerned about their batting, but he finds Mohammad Nabi a great leader.
About Pakistan, he said they have a world class team, the only question mark is their boundary hitting ability in the middle overs, they have the bowling in Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hassan Ali and Harris Rauf, Imad Wasim is great in the powerplay overs. Overall, they are a well-balanced team.
When I asked him about Team India, he said they have many match winners and the IPL has given all their players a lot of experience.
When I asked him about Dhoni, he says it’s a master stroke by the team management to get him as a mentor and he will be a great help for Virat Kohli and the rest of the team in this tournament.
Lastly when I asked him the four teams to make the semifinals, he said it would be India, Pakistan, Australia and West Indies.