India favourites against Australia; Kohli bigger match winner than Sachin: Shane Watson

Dubai - Now as the four-match Test series begins on Thursday, the cricket-obsessed India is brimming with confidence

Australia's refusal to lift the bans on Steve Smith and David Warner, their only world-class batsmen, and India's own strong batting line-up have made Virat Kohli's men the favourites against the Baggy Greens, according to Shane Watson.
Now as the four-match Test series begins on Thursday, the cricket-obsessed India is brimming with confidence. 
Despite their 4-1 defeat to Joe Root's team in the English summer, many in India believe Kohli's team has what it takes to beat a depleted Australian team to achieve their first series win Down Under.  
And Watson, who played 13 Tests against India during his 59-match career in the traditional format of the game, admitted that his compatriots would be the underdogs in the Test series. 
"India certainly have a good chance, especially two of our best batsmen not playing which is a big shame. Their bans didn't get lifted. But that's the reality of the situation. And India, I am sure, is going to make the most of that," Watson told Khaleej Times during an exclusive interview.
"So, India has got as good a chance as they ever had. They - Smith and Warner - are the two world-class batsmen that we have got. I think that's going to be our biggest challenge. We have certainly got some very skilful batsmen, but our biggest challenge is going to be scoring enough runs," he added.
Australia recently lost the Test series against Pakistan in the UAE despite Usman Khawaja playing an epic match-saving innings in the first Test in Dubai.
And the 37-year-old Watson, who led Sindhis in the T10 League, believes India would be confident of their chances despite Australia posing a threat with their lethal pace bowlers - Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins - on their bouncy wickets. 
"Our bowling line-up is very strong," he said. But the Indian batting line-up is very strong as well. Look, it's going to be a really good series," the former Australia all-rounder added.
Watson then opened up on India's best batsman - Kohli - who needs two centuries to eclipse Sachin Tendulkar's record of most Test centuries (6) by an Indian in Australia.
But Watson believes Kohli is a bigger match-winner than Tendulkar, especially in one-day cricket.
"The number of times Virat's runs has won games in one-day cricket for India is incredible," Watson said.
"And if you compare it to Sachin's in terms of statistics, I am sure Sachin scored a lot of runs, but it wasn't always on the winning side, whereas Virat, the majority of times when he scores runs, the team wins. 
"So, it's incredible to think about how many runs he has scored across the globe in all formats, but yeah his one-day record is just mind-blowing," said Watson, who has shared the dressing room with Kohli at Royal Challengers Bangalore. 
"I had the privilege of playing with Virat as well at RCB. I have seen how incredibly good he is. Personally it was really an honour and pleasure to actually play with him. 
"But I don't see any difference at all between the calibre of these two players (Sachin and Kohli). Virat still has got a long way to go in his career."
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com