Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Shane Watson has said he was close to regaining full fitness in order to bowl in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Watson, who struck 101 against Super Kings here on Monday night, said it will take two more games for him to return to full fitness for bowling.
For the first time this year, Watson bowled against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday and then against Chennai Super Kings after a series of injuries, the latest being a calf muscle injury.
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“It’s certainly something that I’ve missed in the last three months. It will probably take me another two games to fully find my feet and bowl exactly how I want to,” Watson told IPLT20.com.
Watson, who recently stepped down as the Australian vice-captain from all the three formats, said he has put in lots of hard work and hoped to reap rewards in the coming months.
Watson was all praise for his compatriot Mike Hussey’s match winning innings despite the fact that his century went in vain. “Any time you watch Michael Hussey bat, it’s a pleasure. To be able to see how much in control he was throughout the innings; it looks like he’s not taking any risks throughout his innings. We’re certainly going to miss him in the Australian team,” he said.
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“In T20 you need a little luck as well to get your innings going. Unfortunately we weren’t able to finish well. It was an important game for us and we knew how crucial it was for us to be playing well against CSK.”
“I think 185 are a lot of runs on any ground. At the beginning of the match our mindset was probably 160-170, but we ended up with an above-par score. I thought Stuart Binny (36 off 22) was brilliant in the latter part of the innings to give us a further kick. We batted really well as a unit,” he said.