Australia needs to be at their best to defeat India: Shane Watson

India and Australia will face off in a knock out match on Sunday at Mohali as both the teams need to win the match in order to qualify for the semi-finals along with New Zealand from this group.

The match will be played at the IS Bindra Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali, where Australia beat Pakistan yesterday to eliminate them out of the tournament. Australian all-rounder Shane Watson who has announced his retirement at the end of the World T20 2016, said that they had to be at their best in order to beat India at their home.

“Look, I have played in games where a lot was dependant on run rate and sometimes we missed out because of it. So it is good that it has come down to winning the match with a simple equation. We know we have to be at our best to beat India. They are an incredible team” said Watson.

He said that it would have been nice, if Bangladesh would have beaten India, by holding their nerve a bit better in the final overs. Had Bangladesh beaten India, and with Australia already winning against Pakistan, Australia would have gone through easily. But now, it will be a knockout match for either team on Sunday at Mohali.

On being asked about India so far, Watson said that, “It is right that they have not clicked so far but the conditions have been extreme. Any team would struggle in that scenario. The ball is turning huge amount, as much I have seen a in a T20 game, whether it was in Nagpur or Eden Gardens. In Mohali, it doesn’t turn that much but they have skillful batsmen and bowlers. All of a sudden their team can click and when that happens they are almost an unbeatable team.”

Watson was reminded of the 3-0 loss at home in the T20I series and he said that they have a different team under a new leadership this time. He was also very quick to heap praise on the young Indian batsmen, especially Virat Kohli.

“Well, we have a tried a few different things (against him) which has not worked. We thought it would work but he goes about his business without any fuss. We have also gone hard at him at times. It affected him for two balls and then I dropped him at the slips,” said a witty Watson.

The India-Australia match will be a real humdinger as it happens between these two teams and can be the last of Shane Watson’s career.

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