Watson hopes to play a big role in the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup
Australian all-rounder Shane Watson has revealed that he believes the West Indies will be the toughest team to beat in the upcoming International Cricket Council (ICC) Twenty20 World Cup.
The West Indies, who have a young team filled with athletic players suited perfectly for Twenty20 cricket, have been further bolstered by the return of flamboyant opening batsman Chris Gayle.
Speaking on the ICC’s cricket show ICC Cricket 360°™, Watson said: “I actually think the West Indies are going to be the team to beat, they have got a really well balanced team that has played a lot of high quality Twenty20 cricket around the world, and they certainly know how to perform under pressure. I think they have got the firepower to give a lot of teams a big surprise.”
However, Watson stated that Australia would be strong contenders for the title as well since many of their players have developed their Twenty20 skills by participating in domestic tournaments all over the world.
Up till now, Australia have never won the Twenty20 World Cup, with their best result being second, when they lost to England in the finals of the 2010 Twenty20 World Cup, which was hosted by the West Indies.
“It is a format in which we still haven’t been able to play well consistently against other countries in the world, we made the final in the West Indies and in the end we were pipped by England but since then, we haven’t played consistently well, so we are really going to have to step up our Twenty20 game. With a change in players and the experience of playing in different Twenty20 leagues, it means hopefully we can step up when we really need to,” Watson added.
Watson, has been extremely injury prone during his time as an Australian cricketer, and he even missed the majority of the latest Australian summer due to injury, but he believes that he can put all his injury woes behind him and play a big role in helping Australia lift the trophy in the 2012 Twenty20 World Cup, which will be played in Sri Lanka.
“I’ve learnt a lot about the way I am going to get the best out of myself as an allrounder, about my bowling workload and what my body can do, I am trying to find the best ways to give myself the best chance of not getting injured,” the all-rounder said.
“In the three months during the summer when I was injured, I learnt a lot and I have put a few things in place again to make sure that I am doing everything I can to give myself the best chance I can of staying fit,” he added.