Super King Watson all praise for TNPL

In the 2018 finale, Watson was the Man of the match smashing a 57-ball 117 not out to help CSK down Sunrisers Hyderabad. He almost did an encore in the 2019 final against Mumbai Indians scoring 59 runs but his dismissal resulted in CSK suffering an agonising one-run defeat.

Since his retirement from international cricket in 2016, Watson has been plying his trade in global leaguesbut he says his association with CSK, particularly with captain MS Dhoni and coach Stephen Fleming, ranks among his best so far.

The dashing cricketer who played 58 Tests, 198 one-day internationals and 58 Twenty20 Internationals for Australia, turned up for the Tamil Nadu Twenty20 Premier League and was “blown away” at the manner in which the event has been conducted. He believes it is the best platformfor young cricketers from Tamil Nadu to make a mark.

“The quality of cricket in TNPL is of a high standard. It’s just a great launching pad for these young cricketers in Tamil Nadu to be able to show their skills. It’s inspiring hopefully for the next generation to realise that there’s an opportunity available if you love what you do and work very hard. So, I think it’s a great way to make youngsters understand it’s within reach to achieve your dreams,” said the burly CSK all-rounder.

On what his advice to youngsters would be, Watson said, “It’s not putting pressure on yourself to perform, it’s just going out and allowing yourself to express what you’ve got. It’s a great platform. Sometimes this might be the biggest opportunity you might get to perform on stage. It is a pretty awesome stage here, you are on TV. And also the crowds these guys are playing in front of. Also, they have international Indian players playing with them as well like Ashwin and Murali Vijay. It’s a great experience for these young guys to just go out and enjoy themselves.”

Not surprisingly, Watson had high words of praise for Super Kings. “My experience with Chennai Super Kings has been very special and welcoming. I’ve played a lot of leagues for franchises around the world, whether that’s here in India or other parts of the world. There’s no doubt that CSK is a very slick operation with how it is run, on and off the field,” pointed out Watson.