‘We have a lot to play for as a franchise and individually’ - Shane Watson opens up ahead of DC’s final fixture of IPL 2023

Delhi Capitals assistant coach Shane Watson believes that the franchise has a lot to play for when they take on Chennai Super Kings in their final league game of the IPL 2023 season. Notably, the David Warner-led side is already out of the playoffs race but the match will still hold a lot of value as they can spoil CSK’s playoffs chance and can also finish higher than the Sunrisers Hyderabad, who are currently at the bottom of the IPL points table.

Meanwhile, talking about DC’s performance this year, the former Australia international mentioned that the young players have developed well and he expects them to perform at their best in the upcoming editions of the cash-rich league.

“We certainly have a lot to play for as a franchise and individually (against CSK). Hopefully, we can perform really well and take confidence from our win against Punjab Kings.There has been a lot of progress and development for the younger Indian batters during this season. We've been working with individual players to help them grow as fast as they can. This year has played a big part in the younger players' development; hopefully, we've set them up for the upcoming seasons,” Watson mentioned in the pre-match press conference.

One of the most disappointing parts of DC this season was Prithvi Shaw: Watson

Returning back to playing XI in the last match against Punjab Kings, youngster Prithvi Shaw played some good cricket, hitting 54 runs in 38 deliveries. He set the tone of the match as DC eventually defeated the Shikhar Dhawan-led side by 15 runs. Analysing Shaw’s performance throughout the course of the 16th edition of the tournament, Watson mentioned that the opener was disappointing for the majority of the time but after he got a break, he returned with extra fire on his belly.

“One of the most disappointing parts for DC this season was Prithvi Shaw. He's one of the most beautiful batters to watch and take down the best bowling with the skills that he's got and knowing that we gave him a big stretch to find his feet. We also knew he has been a little bit inconsistent as well in the past few years but missing out on a few games he really centralised and focussed him on what direction he wanted to go. Because he's so incredibly skilled with the bat in hand he needs to bring every part of the game together,” Watson had said.