After guiding his side to a nerve-wracking one-run win against Kings XI Punjab, Royal Challengers Bangalore all-rounder Shane Watson has heaped praise on team skipper Virat Kohli for instilling confidence in him and using his skills perfectly in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
"Virat has been using me in one over spells early on in the innings and then more towards the back end depending on where it suits the team the most. I am happy to bowl anywhere Virat (needs me). He instills lot of confidence in me, he lets me sort of choose the balls and allows me to set my fields accordingly as well - with his input a lot of the time as well. It's been great to work under him and he's using me very nicely," Watson was quoted as saying by iplt20.com.
Pointing out Kohli always tries to get the best out of everybody, Watson admitted that it was a privilege to work under the player, who has the quality experience and knowledge about the game.
Opting to bat first, the RCB posted a daunting target of 176 runs, thanks to Lokesh Rahul and AB de Villiers for their 42 and 64 runs respectively.
In reply, Kings XI Punjab also produced a brilliant fight back, with Murali Vijay scoring a blistering knock of 89 runs off just 57 balls.
But Vijay's knock went in vain as the RCB bowlers managed to restrict Kings XI to 174 runs in their stipulated 20 overs.
Reflecting on their thrilling narrow win, the 34-year-old Australian said it was a gift to win a game by just one run, adding that it had also given them a chance to make it to the playoffs.
"It is a gift to be able to win a game by one run. In these tournaments, in the IPL, you have to fall on the right side of those really close ones to be able to give yourself a chance to make it to the playoffs. So it's a good starting point we were able to fall on the right side of the game tonight to continue on the momentum that we started in the last game in Bangalore," he added.
Watson was adjudged 'man of the match' for picking up two wickets in his four overs spell.
The RCB are currently standing sixth in the point table, having four wins from the nine games they have played so far.
They will play their next match against Mumbai Indians at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
