Before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Shane Watson gave Australia some wise advice: “Use straight bat, hit off the backfoot.”

The first of the four Test matches is scheduled to start on February 9 in Nagpur.

Before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which will start on February 9, former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson gave sound advise to all of the country’s batsmen. In order to succeed against Indian bowlers, Watson encouraged the tourists to employ a straight bat and play backfoot shots.

The former player shared a personal experience to illustrate his point, saying that when he first arrived in India, he tried to be a different kind of player and had to decide whether to wait for the ball to come to him or use his feet to counter spin. He claimed that he eventually became an expert in the craft, which is why he was successful in the subcontinent.

“Using a straight bat, I can hit through the off side or leg side off the back foot. It’s far lesser risk, so I wish I had thought of that and then acquired that feeling sooner. Cross-bat shots are very rarely used by all good players, especially those from India, and especially not for pull shots. According to Watson of ESPNcricinfo, they will use a straight bat to be able to knock it through the leg side.

“One thing I didn’t really do [in India] was just accept what I had at that time, rather than attempting to be someone else,” the author says. Instead of saying, “Well, this is what I’ve got right now, and this is the greatest approach for me to try and have success,” he continued, “I was thinking, Should I utilise my feet this time to get out and cover the ball from spinning or should I sit deep in the crease.”

Watson thinks Jadeja poses a serious threat to Australia.

According to Watson, Ravindra Jadeja is very challenging to choose for right-handed batters because of his speed and accuracy. He said the left-arm bowler can pose a serious threat to Australia in the upcoming series because of his ability to flip the ball and make it skid.

The difference between facing him when the ball is turning and when it is not turning is indistinguishable. When the ball is turning, it feels as though you are facing a different bowler since he is flatter, faster, and consistently accurate. He is constantly at the stumps. One will either turn or skid through. As a right-hander, it’s really challenging to establish a strategy that would allow you to not just survive, but also score runs against him, according to Watson.