India will be the “favourites” to win the Champions Trophy despite the absence of ace fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, believe former players Eoin Morgan and Shane Watson. A vital cog in India’s title winning campaign in last year’s T20 World Cup, Bumrah will miss the eight-team Champions Trophy which got underway on Thursday, but both Morgan and Watson believe Rohit Sharma’s team has the necessary firepower to win the title. “To do the runners and riders, the side that’s the front-runner, best positioned across the squads, I would say India… out and out favourites,” Morgan said during the International Masters League’s Captain’s Day event here on Wednesday.

“I can’t really pick any holes in their side. I know that’s been the case the last couple of tournaments they’ve gone into. Finally, (at) Ahmedabad, where Australia picked them, and then the T20 (World Cup) win, where they robbed the trophy out of the South African hands.

“You have to still believe that winning trophies and tasting champagne brings confidence, because once you’ve been there, you can believe that you can do it again, so that’s why India are the favourites,” added Morgan.

Watson said Hardik Pandya’s return to the ODI mix bolsters India.

“When it comes to the favourites, it has to be India. They have got bolstered with Hardik Pandya coming in as that fast bowling all-rounder,” he said.

“Unfortunately, they don’t have Jasprit Bumrah, but it’s just about the identical squad to what they had in the last one-day World Cup where they dominated up until the final,” he added.

Watson said Australian teams “know how to turn up in big tournaments” even though they will be without regular skipper Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

“I’m very confident with the Aussies. Their batting is very, very strong. (With) their bowling, there’s going to be a few question marks around that, but they certainly know how to turn up in big tournaments,” said the former Australia vice-captain.

Morgan said the winner between Australia and England in their campaign opener could get on a roll with a positive outcome.

“Outside this, (teams) that are a chance, I never ruled Pakistan out of it, the conditions will favour them,” Morgan said.

“I would say England are an outside chance as well. They’ve been in not great form for a period of time. Brendon McCullum has just taken over. In a short space of time, it’s hard to achieve anything.

“They (England) play Australia on Saturday, who are a side without Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood. I imagine whoever out of those two sides wins, or I think England will, could go on a bit of a roll,” Morgan added.

“Mother cricket always pays you back”

Legendary Kumar Sangakkara, who will lead Sri Lanka Masters, recalled the night when India beat his team to win the ODI World Cup and said “mother cricket always pays you back”.

“The 2011 World Cup… the journey was incredible. We fell short again, but it just goes to show the amount of service that Sachin has done to the game,” he said.

“You know, mother cricket always pays you back and for him to be in that last World Cup and win the trophy, no matter how much heartbreak we had as Sri Lankans, that was an incredibly deserving end to what was an incredible career in every format he played,” Sangakkara added.

West Indies’ Masters captain Brian Lara said a tournament like IML — which will have six teams of former players from India, England, Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies and South Africa competing — should have been in place long ago.

“It’s the sort of tournament that should have been around a very long time ago, I see that it’s going to have legs for some time,” he said.

Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar said, “If someone had told me in 1990, (and) Brian, that 35 years down the line, you’re still playing against each other, we would not have believed and that is what this competition is all about.” 

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 here 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 had 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.

Former all-rounder Shane Watson has advised the Australian team to avoid getting into confrontations with Virat Kohli in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as he feels the intensity the celebrated Indian batter derives from provocations brings the best out of him. Going through a lean run of form, Kohli has enjoyed great success in Australia in the past and will look to regain his touch in the five-match Test series, which gets underway on Friday at the Optus Stadium here.

Provoking the Indian batting mainstay has often proved to be counterproductive for the Australians, and Watson has experienced it himself.

“The one thing that I know of Virat is… because the fire burns so brightly and deep inside him, the intensity he brings to every ball that he is engaged in a game has been superhuman,” Watson was quoted as saying on the Willow Talk podcast.

“But, there have been in recent times where moments in this career that fire has started to go out because it is just so hard to maintain that intensity in every moment he is involved in a game.

“And, that is where Australia have to leave him alone and hope he doesn’t bring the intensity — nine out of 10 intensity — to every ball.” Kohli has played 13 Tests in Australia since 2011, amassing 1,352 runs at an average of 54.08, including six centuries and four fifties, with a top score of 169.

While this would be his fifth tour Down Under in the longest format, Kohli’s best outing came during the 2014-15 series when he aggregated 692 runs in four Tests at an average of 86.50, including four hundreds and a half-century.

These remarkable numbers are not lost on Watson.

“We have seen that when he has had success in Australia, he is up and above for everything in the middle. Every ball he is up for every single moment.

“You can see the fierce intensity that he brings, and if he gets that, then it shuts everything else out. That is when he is at his absolute best.

“If there is stuff happening around and that intensity is not there, that is when you will see the not-so-best version of Virat. So from an Australian perspective, let’s hope we get to see that version of him,” Watson said.

Kohli’s performance in the red-ball format this year has been below par, managing just 70 runs in six Tests at an average of 22.72.

‘Smith wasn’t actually batting at his best as an opener’

When the discussion turned to Australian batting, Watson backed Steve Smith to bring the very best of him against the formidable Indian bowling attack.

Smith will be back at his usual number four slot after struggling as opener following the retirement of David Warner.

“Steve wanted to open. He was super keen to take up a new challenge. But, one thing with that opportunity he had was he wasn’t actually batting at his best at that time,” Watson noted.

“So, he got an opportunity to open, and Steve Smith at his very best would have made the most out of it because he just loves scoring runs, whether it is opening or at No. 4. You could see it a few times he got out when he was opening – his game and his technique was a little bit off.” For the marquee series against fierce rivals India, the Australian selectors have picked 25-year-old uncapped Nathan McSweeney to open the innings alongside Usman Khawaja.

Former all-rounder Shane Watson on Tuesday backed the Indian pace attack to dominate Australia in their own backyard, provided the visiting bowlers are rotated well during what is expected to be a gruelling tour. India’s series wins on each of their two pervious tours to Australia has added spice to the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which will comprise five Tests starting on November 22 in Perth. “India’s pace attack will be where they predominantly win that series. They’ve got the firepower to be able to do it, but to be able to do it five Test matches in a row in Australia, they’ll have to rotate them as well,” Watson told the media during the launch of the International Masters League.

“There’s no question, even though (Ravichandran) Ashwin obviously is a ridiculously skilled bowler in all conditions, same with (Ravindra) Jadeja, but the assistance won’t be there as consistent as it is in other parts of the world.

“They’ll still be effective, but how effective they’ll be, that’ll be the test and that’ll be the challenge for the Aussie batters,” he added.

India’s wins in 2018-19 and 2020-21, to a large extent, were achieved owing to Cheteshwar Pujara’s stoic resistance with the bat, but Watson does not feel that his absence would make any impact on the visitors.

“When you talk about Pujara is (that) he just doesn’t make a mistake. Whereas you’ve seen so many of these incredible batters for India, top-order batters like (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, he has scored runs very quickly, but he hasn’t made a mistake,” he said.

“He hasn’t really given the opposition a chance to be able to get him out. If those type of batters do come out to Australia and play aggressively, put the bad balls away and put the pressure on the Aussie bowlers, then they can still have the same effect and they keep the game moving as well,” he added.

“With the calibre of batters that India have got and the skill they’ve got, there’s no reason why they can’t combine that, putting pressure on the bowlers, score quickly but also not make mistakes,” he said.

Watson said Australia will have to be at their “very best” to beat India.

“India have certainly got the team that has got the firepower, give Australia a huge challenge at home. The last time that they met in Australia, India played very, very well. They will have their confidence from that last tour,” he said.

“But just knowing the firepower that India do have with the bat and the ball and how they continue to come together, Australia are going to have to be at their very, very best to be able to win that series,” he said.

Smith should continue as opener

Watson backed senior batter Steve Smith to bounce back to form in the role of opener, having missed out in the last couple of Tests.

“Steve Smith made the call to be able to go and open, and I think he should stay there. Cameron Green came in and batted at No 4 and did a brilliant job. The hundred that he got in New Zealand for something very special. He’s the perfect No 4 candidate now with the future moving forward.

“Steve Smith, the reason why he didn’t do so well over the previous couple of Test matches is he was a little bit off with his technique. Just a little bit off to see him getting out a couple of ways, which I’ve never really seen him get out before.” Watson expects Australia’s “hard-bodied” bowlers to be able to manage the workload of playing five Tests and backed Steve Smith to continue as an opener.

“One thing that they’ve shown throughout their careers, especially the last four or five years, is how incredibly resilient they are. Once the bowlers like (Mitchell) Starc, (Josh) Hazlewood and (Pat) Cummins, once they get up and going, they are very resilient,” he said.

“They are very hard-bodied and Test-match fit bowlers, which is what every fast bowler’s dream. There’s no question that they’ll be managed whenever we go through a series of five Test matches, but that’ll be the challenge that India have as well,” he said.

‘India greatest in own conditions’

England’s 2019 World Cup winning skipper Eoin Morgan favoured India’s aggressive approach in Test cricket citing the famous win at Kanpur, saying doing so would ask a lot of questions of Australia.

“If they go to Australia and play in that manner, a big part of that series will lie in the balance will be the fitness of Nathan Lyon and how they play (him). If they take that mindset into playing Nathan Lyon like that, it asks a lot of questions of Australia,” he said.

Morgan said the current Indian team ranks as “one of the greatest in their own conditions”.

“They have to be considered one of the greatest in their own conditions. What makes them so good is their hunger and desire to want to win. Their attitude towards that they never take for granted,” he said.

“We come from countries that have huge advantages for the home side. But yet our records over the course of generations are nowhere near as good as Indians,” he added.

The resurgence of Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2024 will definitely go down as one of the biggest success stories in the history of the tournament. Starting the season with seven defeats in eight matches, the Faf du Plessis-led side showed determination and made a solid comeback ton win six games on trot. Resulting which, RCB knocked out five-time champions Chennai Super Kings from the race and became the fourth and final team to enter the Playoffs. RCB are now hoping to see their side going into the final as they made their last appearance back in 2016.

Many fans still lament the heartbreak of 2016, when a red-hot RCB lost in the summit clash by just eight runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Recently, former all-rounder Shane Watson, who was also a part of Team RCB in 2016, apologized to the fans for not performing well in the final.

Shane Watson attended a university event where the crowd chanted “RCB, RCB, RCB,” and Watto’s reactions were priceless.

– The RCB fandom is truly extraordinary. #RCBvsRRpic.twitter.com/IPmQvD0rZO

— Shamim. (@ShamimCricSight) May 21, 2024

“To all the RCB fans here tonight, I need to profusely apologize. The reason why I need to apologize profusely to RCB fans is because of the 2016 IPL final at the Chinnaswamy Stadium,” Watson told university students in Bengaluru.

“I was prepared as well as I could. I was hoping to perform my very very best, but I had one of the worst performances when it comes to the bowling perspective in the final. And I most probably cost RCB winning that IPL,” he added.

In the final, Watson proved to be really expensive for RCB as he conceded a whopping total of 61 runs in just four overs. Resulting which, SRH posted a total of 208/7 in 20 overs.

In the chase, RCB got a blistering start with openers Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli stitching a massive 114-run partnership. However, that wasn’t enough as SRH bowlers made a solid comeback and restricted RCB to 200/7.

Watson’s disappointing show even continued with the bat as he only scored only 11 runs off 9 balls.

Talking about IPL 2024, RCB are all set to face Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator match on Wednesday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson lauded Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Shreyas Iyer for his performance as a leader in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), leading his team to the final, saying that a complete team performance by the Knights throughout the season only reflects how well he is doing as a leader and giving everyone the freedom to play their best. Riding on a combination of Mitchell Starc‘s red-hot scorching spell, Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer’s belligerent fifties, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) secured their place in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 summit clash after beating Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 8-wicket in a lopsided Qualifier 1 contest at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday.

Speaking on Iyer’s leadership and knock of 58*, Watson said to JioCinema, “He played a crucial innings. He has batted nicely throughout this IPL but to be able to put up a dominant display like he did, 58 runs, it is a very impressive time as well, to know you are hitting the ball incredibly well. As a leader, he has had a lot of success. This means he is getting the best of the people around him.”

“It is not just him doing his thing, he is performing well, the team and players around him are doing very well, which is a telltale sign that you as a leader are doing a very good job. You are not suffocating players around you by putting too much pressure on them, you are allowing people to have the freedom to play their best and tonight, they were all really good,” he added.

In the ongoing season, Iyer has scored 345 runs in 13 innings at an average of 38.33 and a strike rate of 146.18, with two half-centuries. His best score is 58*.

This tournament has witnessed an all-round team performance from the two-time champions. Sunil Narine (482 runs and 16 wickets in 14 matches), Phil Salt (435 runs in 12 innings), Iyer (345 runs in 13 innings), Venkatesh Iyer (318 runs in 12 innings), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (163 runs in seven innings), Ramandeep Singh (125 runs in nine innings), Andre Russell (222 runs in nine innings and 16 wickets), Rinku Singh (168 runs in 11 innings), Varun Chakravarthy (20 wickets in 14 matches), Harshit Rana (17 wickets in 12 matches), Mitchell Starc (15 wickets in 13 matches) and Vaibhav Arora (10 wickets in nine matches) have contributed to victories in different capacities.

Coming to the match, Sunrisers Hyderabad elected to bat first. After being reduced to 39/4 following an incredible powerplay spell by Mitchell Starc, a 62-run stand between Rahul Tripathi (55 in 35 balls, with seven fours and a six) and Heinrich Klaasen (32 in 21 balls, with three fours and a six) helped SRH cross the 100-run mark. But wickets kept falling for Sunrisers as bowlers were able to maintain pressure on KKR. A late cameo from skipper Mitchell Starc (30 in 24 balls, with two fours and two sixes) took SRH to a respectable 159 in 19.3 overs.

Starc was the pick of the bowlers for KKR, with a spell of 3/34 in four overs, once again making an impact during the big stages. Varun Chakravarthy also picked up 2/26 in four overs. Vaibhav Arora, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and Vaibhav Arora got a wicket each.

In the run-chase of 160 runs, a 44-run partnership between openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23 in 14 balls, with two fours and two sixes) and Sunil Narine (21 in 16 balls, with four boundaries) provided a fine platform to KKR. Attacking half-centuries from skipper Shreyas Iyer (58* in 24 balls, with five fours and four sixes) and Venkatesh Iyer (51* in 28 balls, with five fours and four sixes) made a mockery of SRH’s bowling and run-chase, winning the game by eight wickets with 38 balls to go.

With this win, KKR has earned a direct spot in the final, while SRH has one more shot at the title clash and will play in Qualifier two against the winner of the eliminator match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) taking place on Wednesday.

Starc took home the ‘Player of the Match’ award.