Virat Kohli one of the greatest chasers of all time: Shane Watson

Royal Challengers Bangalore ensured a much-needed win riding on skipper Virat Kohli’s masterclass century against the Rising Pune Supergiants. Shane Watson was one of the key contributors of the win with both bat and the ball. He picked up a 3-wicket haul earlier in the game and later blasted 36 off just 12 balls to accelerate the innings.

Watson hit 5 fours in one over off the bowling of Thisara Perera and that is what perhaps triggered the downfall for the RPS. Speaking to the iplt20.com, the former Australian all-rounder spoke on the much-needed win, the team momentum and about the king of run chase Virat Kohli.

Speaking on the win and the importance of having a winning momentum, Shane Watson rightly spotted the fact that it is always nice to have a winning momentum towards the end of the tournament. He expects the win against RPS to be a turnaround for them. “It was a very good day for us, this was an important win. It was about time we got some momentum. We have seen plenty of times in the IPL that if you get some momentum going at the back end of the tournament, anything is possible. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a turnaround for us,” quoted the RCB player.

He also added that the win was important after the loss against Kolkata Knight Riders in the last game. He said he was disappointed with his personal performance in the last game and was determined to do well against the Supergiants. “We really needed this win, especially after how we lost the last game against KKR. Personally, I took it very hard for the one over I bowled that got KKR back in the game to be able to win it from there,” he added.

He then revealed that a lot of discussions and hard talk took place in the dressing room after their win against RPS. They tried to figure out the best combinations and a lot of discussions encircled around the fielding. “There has been plenty of talking for sure. We have talked a lot about different plans, and combinations to make sure we give ourselves the best chance to execute. We had to improve on the bowling front and we continue to work on it. Our fielding did not help us today. We dropped plenty of chances. But in the end, we won,” Watson quoted.

Commenting on his plan against MS Dhoni, Watson said he had a plan in his mind to not give any pace to Dhoni to work with. “I was trying to get the ball away from him; bowl wider to him with a bit of change of pace. I have the experience of playing against MS and I know that if a ball lands in his hitting arc, it will travel. So, it is always good to bowl wider to him and chance the pace,” quoted the Aussie.

Lastly, he was all praise for his skipper Virat Kohli, who has been in a terrific form. He praised the chasing ability of Kohli and how easy he makes it look. “Virat has to be one of the greatest chasers of all time in any format. It is incredible to see how well and how easily he hits. It seems like he is not taking any risk at all, and he gets 100 off 50 balls to win the game! Having him in our team makes chasing that much easier for us,” he praised Kohli.
“It is simply phenomenal to watch him and bat with him. It is amazing how he sums up the situation consistently so well and executes under huge pressure. Today we had to win this game to remain in the tournament. He is the captain of our team and he stood up when it mattered,” he further added.

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