The Indian and Australian teamshit the nets on Thursday, with Shane Watson asserting that his team would play aggressive brand of cricket to win the second Test in Hyderabad and restore parity in the four-match series.
Watson, who had a forgettable first Test in Chennai, said he missed bowling there as he is recovering from a calf injury sustained during the recent series against Sri Lanka.
"First of all, we need to win this match. We need to be absolutely certain that we are at our best to beat India who played very well in the first Test," Watson told reporters, two days ahead of the second Test. "We definitely need to be at our absolute best."
Watson revealed that he was itching to bowl during the Chennai Test, especially when MS Dhoni was hammering the Aussie pacers on way to his superb maiden double century.
"[R] Ashwin bowled beautifully in those conditions and MS Dhoni batted unbelievably well to take the game away from our reach," he said. "Bowling wise, I certainly missed my bowling in that Test, especially on the day when MS started to take the game away from us. That's the reason I love being all-rounder, having that feeling that you can make an impact on the game, especially with the game slipping away. I missed that in that Test."
Watson said he would start bowling again soon. "It reaffirmed in my mind that I am never ever going to give up my bowling. This [not bowling] is more a short-term plan to get some continuity with my bowling. This [not bowling] is more a short-term plan to get some continuity with my batting out there and also do strength and fitness work, for next few months, so that I can bowl later. And to give myself more chance to stay fitter for a longer period of time," he said, looking ahead.
The well-built Watson also admitted he loves to open the innings. "Certainly, I am more comfortable opening. That's where I have had my most success in Test cricket, and in ODIs and T20s also. The only reason I got the opportunity to open the batting at very late notice was because Dave Warner had a few problems," he said.
"I do enjoy opening the batting; no doubts about that. But at this moment of time, my role is No.4 in the team and I feel I have a very good game to do a very good job out there. Hopefully, for me, a big innings is just around the corner at No.4 so that I can feel more comfortable out there."
Australia had their practice session in the morning, with the visitors facing a couple of local leftarm spinners to prepare for another battle against the likes of R Ashwin. However, David Warner did not turn up for the session due to stomach upset. Hyderabad Ranji Trophy leftarmer Mehdi Hasan, who completed his four-year computer science degree a few days ago, and under-14 player Durga Prasad were among the locals who bowled to the Aussies.
When the Indian team turned up in the afternoon, several young and promising pacers bowled to the likes of Sachin Tendulkar. Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul, Rishi Dhawan, Ishwar Pandey, Imtiaz Ali, Shrikant Wagh, and Ankit Rajpoot, who have been playing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Visakhapatnam till a few days ago, bowled to their seniors.
Watson, who had a forgettable first Test in Chennai, said he missed bowling there as he is recovering from a calf injury sustained during the recent series against Sri Lanka.
"First of all, we need to win this match. We need to be absolutely certain that we are at our best to beat India who played very well in the first Test," Watson told reporters, two days ahead of the second Test. "We definitely need to be at our absolute best."
Watson revealed that he was itching to bowl during the Chennai Test, especially when MS Dhoni was hammering the Aussie pacers on way to his superb maiden double century.
"[R] Ashwin bowled beautifully in those conditions and MS Dhoni batted unbelievably well to take the game away from our reach," he said. "Bowling wise, I certainly missed my bowling in that Test, especially on the day when MS started to take the game away from us. That's the reason I love being all-rounder, having that feeling that you can make an impact on the game, especially with the game slipping away. I missed that in that Test."
Watson said he would start bowling again soon. "It reaffirmed in my mind that I am never ever going to give up my bowling. This [not bowling] is more a short-term plan to get some continuity with my bowling. This [not bowling] is more a short-term plan to get some continuity with my batting out there and also do strength and fitness work, for next few months, so that I can bowl later. And to give myself more chance to stay fitter for a longer period of time," he said, looking ahead.
The well-built Watson also admitted he loves to open the innings. "Certainly, I am more comfortable opening. That's where I have had my most success in Test cricket, and in ODIs and T20s also. The only reason I got the opportunity to open the batting at very late notice was because Dave Warner had a few problems," he said.
"I do enjoy opening the batting; no doubts about that. But at this moment of time, my role is No.4 in the team and I feel I have a very good game to do a very good job out there. Hopefully, for me, a big innings is just around the corner at No.4 so that I can feel more comfortable out there."
Australia had their practice session in the morning, with the visitors facing a couple of local leftarm spinners to prepare for another battle against the likes of R Ashwin. However, David Warner did not turn up for the session due to stomach upset. Hyderabad Ranji Trophy leftarmer Mehdi Hasan, who completed his four-year computer science degree a few days ago, and under-14 player Durga Prasad were among the locals who bowled to the Aussies.
When the Indian team turned up in the afternoon, several young and promising pacers bowled to the likes of Sachin Tendulkar. Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul, Rishi Dhawan, Ishwar Pandey, Imtiaz Ali, Shrikant Wagh, and Ankit Rajpoot, who have been playing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Visakhapatnam till a few days ago, bowled to their seniors.
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