Jaipur, Sept.26 : Australian all-rounder Shane Watson sees himself as providing a bit of an impact during the forthcoming series against India.

Though he has not been told he will play in the first Test in Bangalore from October 9, the 27-year-old said: "What my bowling gives is a bit of an impact, especially on the fourth and fifth day of a Test match when I can come in and give it all I've got, and have a crack more than anything."

"I know playing against the Indians here, it's a good way to challenge them, physically and mentally, not sledging but having an aggressive persona about you, and that's the way I play my cricket. I think it definitely will help the team if I do get an opportunity," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted him as saying further.

He also said that he has always wanted to be seen as genuine all-rounder who could bowl 20 or 30 overs and then come out and make a hundred.

"I've realized there is no one in the world who does that, very rarely anyway," said Watson, who played the most recent of his three Tests in November 2005, when he popped a shoulder in the outfield at the Gabba. "

For Watson, it is a major comeback of sorts, given that even till a year ago, he could not foresee himself as donning the cherished "Baggy Green" again.

His outstanding performance in the recently held Indian Premier League and a good one-day performance in the West Indies has piloted him once again into national reckoning.

Recalling his bad days, he said: "People were giving me, 'I don't know what's wrong, I don't know if your body is going to let you do what you want to do, and maybe you've got to start just batting.' That was a time when I just locked myself in my apartment and played my guitar and wallowed in my own self-pity more than anything."

His mood lifted only when Queensland physiotherapist Victor Popov devised a long-term plan to rebuild his body, allowing him to play out the season with Queensland and pinch a late contract with Rajasthan.

In Jaipur, the muscular blond was an instant hit, and under Warne's captaincy was crowned player of the inaugural series.

Watson readily admits that the bigger challenge will be to win over the public in his own country, where people know more about his catalogue of injuries than the versatile skills that should make him such an asset to this transitional Australian team.

ANI