Shane Watson’s Test captaincy debut was as dramatic as the week prior to it. After missing the third Test in Mohali due to suspension and the birth of his son, Watson took over Australia’s reins in Delhi from an injured Michael Clarke.
While he couldn’t avoid a 0-4 whitewash at the hands of the buoyed Indians, Australia’s stand-in captain did manage to bring back his team’s aggressive streak on show, which resulted in them putting up a better fight. Tempers frayed and the contest between bat and ball was riveting. In the end India emerged victorious in three days by six wickets while chasing 155 to win.
At the end of the fourth Test, as Watson addressed the media for the last time in the series, he spoke about his tactics as captain, his disappointment at being outplayed by India and his own poor run with the bat.
Here’s an extract from his press conference:
The final hour
I thought we were definitely in the game. I knew if we get 150 and bowl well, we would give ourselves a very good chance of winning the Test match. Unfortunately, things didn’t go entirely right with the ball. If we had got a couple of more wickets earlier, the way the wicket was playing, it would’ve been a challenge for the new batsman coming in.
Pujara, the ‘thorn in the throat’
Cheteshwar Pujara has batted very well throughout the whole series and did the same again in the second innings. Up until they had 20-15 runs to go, I felt we had a chance if we bowled him out. The wicket was doing hell of a lot – some balls were keeping very low and some of them were taking off. So, we knew we could get on the roll. But unfortunately, Pujara didn’t give us a chance to deal India that big blow. This series was the first time that we saw him first hand and he’s been unbelievably impressive throughout the whole series. He’s got his game in check and the ability to concentrate for long hours. He was certainly the most impressive performer for India and a big thorn in our throat.
The 0-4 drubbing
We’re extremely disappointed. We came here with high hopes but in the end 4-0 was certainly what we deserved. India totally outplayed us. We didn’t play to our best potential. We have some young guys who are still learning. It’s been a big learning curve for everyone to see how the wickets played and how to face quality spinners here. We’ve learnt a hell of a lot out of this series. We need to improve very quickly.
Soul searching
I am one of the seniors in the team and I didn’t score even nearly as many runs as I’d have liked. I knew how important it was for me to score for the team with young guys learning around me. That, for me personally, has been extremely disappointing, knowing that I’ve played a lot of cricket here and unfortunately I didn’t score the runs, especially when the team needed it the most.
The top-order failure
We, as top-order batsmen, were doing everything we could. If you see some of the dismissals, you’ll probably realise that it was hard to bat out there. Sometimes a ball’s got your name on it and at times – like I did today – you just play a bad shot. All four of us top-order batsmen have been disappointing. We all need to score runs if we want to be considered in top-six and play consistently. We haven’t been able to do that in that series, especially in the first innings when the conditions are best to bat. I put my hand up first as I believe that as a senior batsman and leader I should set an example along with Michael [Clarke]. There’s no doubt that Michael continues to be an amazing contributor and we’ve all got to strive for what Michael has been able to achieve as a batsman.
Good ol’ Aussie aggression
I know that whenever the Australian cricket team has played its best cricket, we’ve been aggressive, have shown great intent, we’ve been in the contest every single ball and made the opposition work for every run and wicket. On Day 2 of this Test we really came together as a group, we knew there was a line and we decided we won’t cross that, but still be part of the contest every ball. That’s what I asked the team as captain and the guys delivered that throughout the Test match. Even though the result wasn’t right for us, we had a lot of fun out there and that’s also a big part of the game.
The taste of captaincy
I absolutely loved it to be honest. Of course I’ll hand it back because Michael is the man. But it’s been an absolute pleasure being able to captain my country and I’ve had a blast even though I haven’t been able to contribute with run-scoring. Everything I asked of the team, they gave it all and that’s all you can ask for.
Aftermath of his suspension
It [his relationship with Clarke and coach Mickey Arthur] got a bit rocky for a day but after that things have been very good. Michael and the leadership group had to make a decision and obviously at the time I wasn’t very happy about it. But we all sat down, had a great chat and have moved on. I’m really excited about the future that’s coming up. It’s been a shot in the arm for us ‘Mohali Four’ as they called us a few days ago. After returning from home, it’s great to see the team coming together.
