Delhi Capitals (DC) assistant coach Shane Watson had a stellar career spanning 14 years for Australia. During this time he was a member of the two-time World Cup winning team, playing many memorable innings, breaking partnerships and taking excellent catches. Watson continued to perform well in the IPL even after retiring from international cricket after the T20 World Cup in 2016. In the year 2018 at the age of 37, he scored more than 500 runs for Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
After retiring from IPL, Watson worked as a specialist for the last two years before joining Delhi this year and his contribution can be gauged from the fact that almost every player has worked on Watson in one way or another. I have talked about their impact. He is part of an impressive coaching team, with former Australia teammate Ricky Ponting as coach and Pravin Amre.
Ajit Agarkar is also among Watson’s associates as an assistant coach. Talking about Agarkar, Watson remembers India’s tour of Australia in 1999. Agarkar was one of the leading fast bowlers of Team India along with Javagal Srinath. This was Agarkar’s second Test series and he took 11 wickets in three matches. According to Watson, Agarkar troubled the Australian batsmen a lot.
Watson said on the Delhi Capitals podcast, “Ajit Agarkar is a wonderful person. I’ve played a little bit against him. Especially at the end of his career. Javagal Srinath bowled well, but Ajit… I remember he came to Australia. I think it was 1999, Brett Lee’s debut year. He bowled very fast. He troubled the Australian team a lot. I remember he was trying to bounce Steve Waugh and Waugh was not happy with that.”
Watson says that he is deeply influenced by Coach Agarkar. This former India all-rounder has the ability to understand the players and their mindset. He said, “The knowledge he has… he is a really nice person and knows how to really connect with people. He gets a lot of respect even within the team for what he has achieved as a cricketer. He is a good person and cares about people. So his ability to tell about something and help people is fantastic. ,