Shane Watson was full of praise for New Zealand, against whom Australia will kick off their World T20 campaign, following the Black Caps’ shock victory against hosts India on Tuesday, Cricbuzz reports. The all-rounder expressed surprise at the amount of turn generated on the Nagpur pitch and was expecting something similar at Dharamsala, where the Trans-Tasmanian rivals will clash on Friday.
Coming into the tournament as outright favourites, India were undone at their own game with New Zealand’s spin trio of Nathan McCullum, Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi claiming nine wickets between them to lead New Zealand to a famous 47-run victory. Watson said that he was equally surprised by how much the ball turned as well as the manner in which the Indian batsmen failed to negotiate something which is considered one of their biggest strengths.
“I'm not sure if I've seen a wicket turn as much as it did last night. It was incredible how much the ball turned,” Watson said. “Obviously, in New Zealand's innings the balls turned quite a bit but when New Zealand was bowling... goodness me, the ball turned a hell of a lot. The Indian players are very good players of spin but that was turning huge amounts so I'm not sure if they were hoping for those conditions exactly."
Watson reserved special praise for the New Zealand team management for showing the courage to keep out, arguably, their two best bowlers in Trent Boult and Tim Southee, and choosing an eleven that was ideally suited for the conditions on offer.
"It took a lot of courage to go against the grind from what you normally would, coming out here and not playing [Trent] Boult and [Tim] Southee and playing three spinners, it certainly paid dividends. That is the flexibility you should have in these sort of tournaments depending on what conditions come around," he said.
Watson said that he was expecting the ball to turn at Dharamsala as well, having seen a few of the qualifying matches at the venue.
"Yeah! I saw a few of the games that were played here and they definitely turned a bit. It seemed like there was obviously a lot of moisture around as well, so sometimes wickets do turn even if they're not incredibly dry, just because of the moisture that's around," Watson said.
Australia might be lacking a top-quality spinner in their squad but Watson is confident that the way India’s Jasprit Bumrah bowled on Tuesday is enough to prove that any bowler can perform well if he utilises the conditions and bowl in the right areas.
“Spin isn't the only way to do well here. We have other options in the side. Last night, Jasprit Bumrah showed if the bowler has the skills, you don't need to be a spinner to be good in these conditions and in that way we have plenty of skilful bowlers who can be useful in these conditions," he said.
Furthermore, Australia’s dominant record against New Zealand in major ICC events – the 2015 World Cup final victory, a prime example – means Watson is confident that his side can dent the opposition’s confidence and get off to a good start in the tournament themselves.
“Certainly, (it's) a big confidence builder for New Zealand to beat India here in India. But like always in a game against New Zealand, they will know what we bring to the game whatever the conditions are. So no doubt they will be confident, but they will be wary of what we bring to the game as well," he said.
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