T20 World Cup 2021 in UAE: India favourites against New Zealand, says Shane Watson

Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson says India are the favourites against New Zealand tomorrow in the must-win T20 World Cup Super-12 match.

Both teams lost their opening game against Pakistan but Watson believes India’s one week break would have done them a world of good and it would have recharged their batteries after that heavy defeat.

Come good

He added that the firepower of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul will come good against Trent Boult as they have the recent experience of playing against him in the IPL.

Moreover, India is definitely going to bounce back and all their players would like to make amends for the mistakes they made in the first game against Pakistan. He would like to see Shardul Thakur ahead of the out of form Bhuvneshwar Kumar not only for his bowling but also for his power hitting batting which will be an added bonus.

Big worry

He also felt Varun Chakravarthy will be a big threat to all the New Zealand batters and barring Williamson none of them have played the mystery spinner and will find it difficult to read his different variations. Also he added that the form of Williamson is a big worry and he needs to fire if New Zealand are to beat India.

New Zealand has a good record in ICC tournaments against India and they find ways of winning but India will have to be ready and can’t take New Zealand lightly in this must-win game for both teams as whoever loses will have a lot of catching up to do in their last three games.

His final verdict was that India will beat New Zealand because of the firepower they possess.