CHENNAI: Former Australia and current Chennai Super Kings (CSK) player Shane Watson was bowled over by the warmth and affection shown by the children at Velammal School. He visited Mel Ayanambakkam, felicitated the sports achievers of the school and inaugurated a cricket pitch. Watson was all praise for the way India beat South Africa and believed they can also win matches abroad regularly.
“India have got the depth in all departments; it is incredibly strong. They have the luxury of having someone like a Rohit Sharma opening the batting and scoring lots of runs. I am sure this team can win away from home as well.” With India being a strong force in all forms of the game over the last couple of years, many have been comparing this team to the ones led by Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting.
“To be able to replicate what Australia did under Ponting and Waugh is going to be tough, but there is no reason India can’t do it.” With his aggressive captaincy and positive attitude, Virat Kohli has been winning matches regularly across formats. He is perhaps one of the few batsmen in the world who is scoring across all formats. “He has done a great job. Whatever he is doing is certainly working.” With Steve Smith and David Warner back in Australia after their ball-tampering bans, things seem to better Down Under. “Australia have had issues in the last year or so.
Now that they have settled well, they have a strong team. There is a good No 3 in Marnus Labuschagne.” Finally, the big question every cricket lover in India wants an answer for. When will MS Dhoni retire? “He can do whatever he wants. He’s still got skill. But it is down to him to decide. He still moves incredibly well, runs hard between the wickets and has beautiful hands. Whatever he does, it will be the right thing.”