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Still special to play against Afridi, says Watson

Sharjah - The towering Australian still continues to stamp his mark at the ripe age of 37

T20 franchise leagues the world over may be the ideal way to unearth talent coming through but it is also a stage for the stars of yesteryears to shine bright.
And perhaps no one epitomises that more than Shane Watson. The towering Australian still continues to stamp his mark at the ripe age of 37 and continues to do so in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL).
The Queenslander's back-to-back half-centuries have been integral to the Quetta Gladiators' great start in the fourth edition and he currently leads the run-getters list with 161 runs.
And the all-rounder, who has made his name in various leagues around the world, said that his vast experience as well as a slice of luck has helped him to keep going.
"You always need a little bit of luck going your way in every innings," Watson said after his 61 helped the Gladiators make it three wins from three.
"So, the last couple of innings, a few things have gone my way at times to keep my innings going. But, in the end, I'm absolutely loving playing as I always have and when it comes to the skill point of view, I know I'm 37 now but it means that I have a lot of experience under my belt from a technical point of view, from a game sense point of view. If I'm able to tap into that as much as I can then hopefully I can be consistent," he added.
And continuing in the same vein, Watson said it is very special to still be playing against another veteran Shahid Afridi. Afridi, who previously played for Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings, is now turning out for Multan Sultans.
"It is a great format and a great challenge to play in all these tournaments that I'm playing. It is still very special to be able to play against Shahid Afridi, for example. He's always someone I've always loved playing against so, to be able to continue to play against someone like him, in these tournaments, is very special," Watson opined.
Meanwhile, Multan Sultans opener Shan Masood is looking at the PSL as a platform to make it to Pakistan's limited-overs teams.
"Every opportunity that you get is a chance, a platform to do well and get noticed. I was in the PSL last year but I couldn't play. But I look at it in a progressive way and I'm getting the chance to play. Even in domestic cricket, if you talk about white-ball cricket, there has been progression and my job is to score as many runs when I get the chance and get into reckoning when it comes to white-ball cricket," said Masood, who has played 15 Tests but is yet to figure in ODIs and T20Is for Pakistan.