Former Australian all-rounder, Shane Watson has played a lot of cricket in Asia both for his national team as well as in franchise cricket. The stylish cricketer has also represented Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan-based T20 league.
While talking to ICC in an interview, the former all-rounder said that he had got the opportunity to play in PSL, saying it was one of the best experiences of his cricketing career. “I was fortunate to play a few Pakistan Super League (matches) over there and it was one of the most amazing experiences I have had in my life”.
Shane Watson said that he is very optimistic about Australia’s performance and believes that they can defeat the hosts if they score enough runs against a strong Pakistan blowing lineup.”My gut is telling me Australia will win the series if they score enough runs, as I believe their bowlers will be good enough to put the Pakistan batters under a lot of pressure.”
While answering a question regarding Cricket Australia’s decision to send the men’s cricket team to Pakistan for a full-fledged tour, Watson said that the cricket board deserves appreciation for ensuring the security protocols and safety of all the players.
“It is brilliant that Cricket Australia has gone to great lengths to make sure they have got all the information they need to make sure the players’ minds are at ease around the security side of things, so it is going to be a brilliant series.”
Speaking on the basis of his experience, Watson said that Pakistan has been trying to bring big teams to the country. Cricket fans in Pakistan are starving for international cricket in their country and the crowd has a great passion for cricket.
“I am super excited as I know how much the Pakistan people have been starved of cricket. They are so cricket obsessed and love nothing more than watching Pakistan play and especially live cricket at home.”
Shane Watson, who was named player of the tournament in the 2009 Champion Trophy, stated that the series will be a great spectacle because so many top-tier players will be in action.
“It is going to be great to see so many world-class fast bowlers like Shaheen Afridi and the Australian fast bowlers and how they can attack on such batting wickets. But one of my favorites, is well, Babar Azam, how beautiful is he to watch, as Rohit Sharma, everything he does is effortless.”