“From a franchise perspective, from the IPL perspective, that’s the shame about there being just so much cricket on,” Watson said. “And every time in the lead up to the IPL, you’ve really just got your fingers crossed that everything you do, the main auction, the mini auction, that you set everything up to give yourself the best chance with the playing group and obviously the support staff around to be able to help get the best out of them.”

Watson said how carefully built squads can quickly be destabilised by injuries, particularly after ICC tournaments. This year, there was just a 20-day gap between the T20 World Cup and the IPL.

“So you know when there’s an ICC event in the lead up to an IPL, for example, that the players – as they should – are putting it all on the line and pushing the limit,” Watson said. “Even if they’re playing with injuries, they’re going to do it because they want to give themselves a chance of winning a T20 World Cup.

“So that just means that there’s going to be injuries that are potentially going to play a big part in how your plans change. And just knowing how much international cricket as well is around that just provides a lot of different challenges. But that’s the flexibility you need to be able to have and the quick decisions you have to make to pivot from thinking there are players available. You’ve got to pivot from what you think the make-up of your best XII is going to be.”

Watson said KKR were awaiting an update on Pathirana’s availability, and the franchise does not want to rush his comeback.

“With Pathirana, obviously, it’s a waiting game at the moment. We’re being guided by the Sri Lankan cricket board and we are just doing everything we can to get him over here as soon as possible.

“We certainly would never, ever push him any earlier than he needs to. Because the last thing that we want as KKR is him playing the first game, trying to come back too early and breaking again. So we just hope that sooner rather than later, he is able to come over here and we can really start the integration process.”

But Watson sees these injuries as opportunities for domestic players to make their case. He was all praise for the evolution of India’s talent pool, describing how the domestic players are no longer targets for experienced batters to take advantage of.

“The thing for me is that up until a period of time, I’d say maybe six or seven years, every time you played against an opposition team, there were normally one or two domestic players who were the weakest in the team, who, from a batting perspective, you could potentially expose. Or from a bowling perspective, you could try to suffocate that player and suffocate the team around them. That was for the first probably six or seven years of the IPL. That’s not there anymore at all.”

Watson ‘not a fan of Impact Player rule’

“A rule like the Impact Player rule, I personally am not a massive fan of, and that just comes from an all-round perspective, all-round cricketer development,” Watson said. “Unless you’re a world-class allrounder, especially from a bowling perspective, you’re not bowling in an IPL game unless there’s an injury or something happens.

“Because that Impact Player, that sixth bowler, who’s a frontline bowler, will get that opportunity to be able to bowl. Think about Ramandeep Singh here at KKR. He’s a highly skilled bowler. He’s got great skills, but because of this Impact Player rule, he’s hardly bowled at all over the last couple of seasons.

“That’s the main reason why I don’t like the Impact Player rule, because I see it really stunting the growth of allrounders coming through, and especially the Indian allrounders are not going to get more opportunities. World-class allrounders, if they’re already there, they’re going to get the opportunity to bat and bowl anyway.”

However, Watson acknowledged the rule has transformed batting intent across the league.

“But the Impact Player rule certainly provided that extra bit of freedom for the batters to not ever be in cruise control. It’s always attack, because they know they’ve got that cushion of at least an extra batter to be able to pick up the pace if things don’t go well. So that alone has meant that we’re seeing some pretty amazing things that are on display.”

Watson also expects Ramandeep to step up and fill the Andre Russell-sized hole at KKR. Russell, who was a constant for the franchise since IPL 2014, retired from the tournament ahead of this season and took over as KKR’s power coach.

“[Russell not being there] is a hole, but with that, there’s opportunity. I think about the opportunity that’s provided for someone like Ramandeep Singh.

“He’s a highly skilled young man. I’ve only been commentating the last couple of seasons and seeing him from afar a little bit, Ramandeep, to be able to see his ridiculous batting skill and power that he’s got and his all-round capabilities as well. I’ve got really high hopes for Ramandeep and what he’s able to do.”