Shane Watson has thanked former India captain MS Dhoni for his IPL form as the Chennai Super Kings look to utilize their very first chance to qualify for the finals. They will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the first qualifier on Tuesday (May 22) and a win for CSK would mean a record sixth final for the two-time champions.

CSK opener—Watson has amassed 438 runs and bagged six wickets in the 13 matches he has played  in this season so far. He has clubbed one century and two half-centuries to help the team seal a second-place finish in the league round.

The 36-year-old has heaped praise on MS Dhoni and said that the CSK skipper’s intuition is rare in the game. The former Aussie batsman also feels lucky for he kind of opportunity CSK have offered him to showcase his all-round proficiency.

“Just his feel and intuition for the game, I’ve experienced that with a few incredible players I’ve played with, MS is certainly right up there,” he said. “The feel that he has for the game, what a batsman is going to do, what a bowler should do, as you can see when he bats as well, nine times out of 10 he chases the runs down as well.”

“I’m very fortunate to have an opportunity at CSK like I have, to be able to open the batting throughout the tournament, to be able to bowl certain overs whenever MS (Dhoni) needs me.

“To be there for MS but also for my selfish point of view to be able to see how his mind works and how incredibly he reads the game, to be able to ask those questions has been great as well,” Watson added.

Having two of the oldest players (Imran Tahir, Harbhajan Singh) of this season in their squad, Chennai field eight players over the age of 30. And having some of the most experienced players did pay them off as the former champions registered nine wins in 14 games.

“There’s no doubt that experience in T20 tournaments and cricket in general can really come through especially in pressure situations,” Watson said.