'Don't just play to survive but...': Shane Watson provides key tips to Australian batsmen

Former Australian allrounder Shane Watson has his say about upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy between Australia and India, which will begin from 6 onwards. former RCB cricketer also provided important batting tips to national team. While Australia is top-placed team in ICC Men’s Rankings, India is second and are favorites to advance into ICC World Test Championships 2021-23 cycle.

Heading into series, India’s strength in ir spin bowling attack will be a matter of concern for Aussies. Speaking on same in a conversation with ESPNCricinfo, Watson said, “Using a straight bat to be able to hit off back foot through off side or leg side. I wish I had got that through my head and n developed that instinct earlier because it’s much lower risk. All good players, especially from India, very rarely do y use cross-bat shots, especially for a pull shot”. 

“One thing I didn’t really do [in India] was just accept what I had at that moment in time, instead of trying to be someone else. I was thinking, ‘Should I use my feet this time to get out and cover ball from spinning or should I sit deep in crease’, instead of going, ‘Well this is what I’ve got right w, and this is best way for me to try and have success,” he added.

India vs Australia, four-match Test series: Kw full schedule

Australia is slated to tour India for a four-match Test series which is scheduled to begin on February 9. After first Test concludes on February 13, second Test will begin on February 17, before third Test kicks off on March 1. iconic Border-Gavaskar series will conclude with fourth Test, which begins on March 9.

• India vs Australia 1st Test from February 9 to 13 at VCA Stadium, Nagpur
• India vs Australia 2nd Test from February 17 to 21 at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
• India vs Australia 3rd Test from March 1 to 5 at HPCA Stadium, Dharamshala
• India vs Australia 4th Test from March 9 to 13 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

 India vs Australia, four-match Test series: Full squads

India’s Test squad for first two Tests against Australia: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav

Australia’s squad: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith (vc), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matw Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner