Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. File
| Photo Credit: DEEPAK KR
Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson termed India’s inability to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy as “unfortunate” but said the ICC showpiece will offer star batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma a chance to liberate themselves from a prolonged form slump.
The global governing body has adopted the ‘Hybrid’ model for this edition of the CT with India scheduled to play its matches at a neutral venue in Dubai.
“It’s unfortunate that things have worked out that way for sure. But there’s no doubt that what everyone loves seeing — the India-Pakistan games. Whenever they come together, whether it’s an ICC event, it is a really special time because we’ve got a sense of what’s on the line,” Watson told the media during the Champions Trophy Tour.
“It’s unfortunate that India aren’t travelling to Pakistan for this Champions Trophy. But, unfortunately, that’s just the way it is right now,” he added.
Watson said the CT offers cricket a fresh context, breaking the long lull of four years between two ODI World Cups.
“The CT is a critically important tournament in world cricket because the One Day World Cup is only once in every four years. It is great because it breaks up those four years,” he noted.
The 43-year-old also said the CT keeps the ODI format alive amidst the rightful prominence Test cricket receives and the upsurge of T20s.
“You keep giving one-day cricket the energy that it needs because it is a great game. It’s a great format. It provides that balance between Test cricket and T20 cricket.
“We never want to lose the format of one-day cricket, but there needs to be context as often as possible. And the CT certainly provides that.”
“When you play a CT where there’s only eight teams, there is something riding on every ball. And as a team, you have to hit the ground sprinting. Otherwise, you’ll be out like it was for the Australian team in 2013.”
Then defending champions Australia finished at the bottom of Group A with a solitary win and crashed out of the tournament, which India won eventually under MS Dhoni.
Current form no worry for Rohit, Kohli
Both Rohit and Kohli were part of that victory in England 12 years back, but now these two superstars are finding it tough to make big runs as they did in the past.
But Watson was not worried over the Indians’ patchy form for talks surrounding their retirement.
“I don’t think it (current poor form) will really play a part at all with Rohit Sharma and Virat’s impact in one-day cricket. It’s going to be different conditions where they’re playing in Dubai. One-day cricket does really free them both as well,” said Watson.
He placed his faith in Kohli’s extraordinary ODI numbers — 295 ODIs, 13906 runs, Average: 58.18 with 50 hundreds and 72 fifties.
“Kohli is an absolute master of one-day cricket.”
“Yes, he’s a master of all formats, but especially ODIs. You see his extraordinary numbers over a long period of time, averaging around 57 and a strike rate of 93 over a long period of time. It’s crazy to think the control that he has over his innings.” Watson said Rohit could be back to his best in ODIs.
“We’ll see that again in the Champions Trophy. Rohit, like we saw in the one-day World Cup (2023), when he was at his very best, he was taking on the game.
“It’s more difficult to be able to do that in Test cricket. He hasn’t been able to find that balance here in Australia. But when he goes out for the batting in one-days, he lets loose. That’s when we see the very best of Rohit Sharma.”
“So I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t perform really well in the Champions Trophy, knowing that he probably doesn’t have a lot of time left, whatever that is, but a lot of time left in international cricket. So I’m sure he’ll let the handbrake off,” he added.
Pat for Nitish Kumar Reddy
Watson said Nitish Kumar Reddy who made a hundred in the Boxing Day Test, will have to improve as a bowler to realise his full potential as an all-rounder.
“It’s exciting to see a young all-rounder coming through, be able to do what he did in the IPL just from a batting perspective. (because of) The impact player, which is sort of one of the rules that I don’t particularly like…someone like Reddy didn’t get an opportunity to be able to really bowl much.
“But now we’re seeing it in Test cricket and he will fit beautifully into one-day cricket and T20 cricket because of the versatility he provides. He’s got all the gears from a batting perspective and his bowling is only going to get better the more exposure he gets,” he concluded.
Published – January 02, 2025 10:49 am IST
