Rahul Dravid has had great impact on my career: Shane Watson

Shane Watson

Rajasthan Royals‘ captain Shane Watson was full of praises for former Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid, who is now the mentor of the Royals’ side. Dravid retired from all formats of cricket last year.

The Australian all-rounder said: “To have Rahul as a mentor is unbelievable. My development is certainly continuing to evolve very quickly because of having him there. For me personally, I am extremely lucky to have him around.”

Watson, who has been with the Royals right from the first edition of the IPL, played under the captaincy of Dravid in the 2012 and 2013 editions of IPL. He said: “It was also an honour to have played with Dravid in the past.”

On his national teammates Steve Smith and James Faulkner, who pulled off an incredible heist against Royal Challengers Bangalore last night, he said: “Smith has got incredible skills to hit the ball in different areas. So, for bowlers it is very difficult to set the field for him – he is someone like AB de Villiers.

“And for Royals, they have done well, especially Faulkner who has been brilliant with the ball last year. Smith has the potential for handling pressure and is highly skilled batsman in all formats of the game and Royals are lucky to have in the team via auction.

“For Royals James had a brilliant IPL last year with the ball. Smith is great addition. I know how well he handles pressure and is a highly skilled batsman in all formats of the game. So, we were glad to get him in the auction.”

Rating his team’s opening batsman Karun Nair very highly, he said: “He certainly is one of the powerful Indian batsman that I have seen. The positions he gets into makes one feel he can take on very good quick bowling. He also plays spin extremely well.”