Dubai: Australian all-rounder Shane Watson, fresh from hitting a century against India in the Twenty20 series in Sydney, wants to carry his form into the Pakistan Super League (PSL) too and contribute to Islamabad United’s triumph.
Answering to a query on how it is to be flying into play PSL straight after getting a century against India, Watson said: “It’s nice to be batting as well as I have been doing. In the last month or so, it has been really good and happy I have been able to contribute. Very excited to be here in beautiful sunny Dubai and hopefully put in some good performance here.”
Watson is enjoying the experience of being with the Islamabad United team. “It is exciting to be part of the Pakistan Super League and play for Islamabad United which has some world class players in this squad. We have lots of depth in our squad. The coaches and support staff have done a great job to get such a quality team and squad together. In this tournament, I will be playing with players whom I have played against all the time. It will be great to play with the likes of Misbah-Ul Haq, Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Sami and not against them.”
What has excited Watson the most is playing under the coaching of Dean Jones. “Deano is one of my heroes while growing up as a young fellow. He certainly knows the game incredibly well and he has a great mind on the game of cricket. I had learnt in bits and pieces from him throughout my career and now I got an opportunity to work more closely. Also the other person I am very excited about is Wasim Akram, I have played against him a little bit in the start of my career in one day cricket and has always loved his skills and so to be able to work closely with him is very exciting.”
When reminded about how it will be to be facing Wahab Riaz in the PSL, with whom he had a stormy face-off during the 2015 World Cup in Australia, Watson said: “It’s going to be good fun. Obviously, it brings back incredible memories during the World Cup when he was bowling very fast and very consistently in and around my head as well. So I am looking forward to be playing him again. He is a very skilled fast bowler and very challenging.”
Watson feels that PSL will be of immense help to him before playing in the oncoming Twenty20 World Cup in India. “To be able to play in this format and get used to the different conditions is very important. It is going to be bit more similar to what it will be in india compared to what it will be in Australia so it is going to be a great preparation for the world cup.”
Watson would have loved to be playing the series in Pakistan but for the security reasons. “I had really good time while playing in Pakistan in 2005 during the Australia A team tour. However, security is the most important thing and if players around the world are declared to be very safe I will be happy to play there.
“I love playing cricket wherever it is around the world. If security situation continues to get better there, it will be nice and Pakistan hadn’t had home team advantage for a long time now because of security concerns and hopefully it works out their way soon,” he added.
