In the ever-changing world of the franchise culture, Shane Watson has found a home in the Indian Premier League. He calls it Rajasthan Royals and he feels like he truly belongs there. Not surprising, considering he is the only survivor of the Royals’ fairytale title triumph in IPL 2008.

With the Jaipur-based team, the Aussie all-rounder has gained some valuable experiences, good and bad, that have helped him grow as a cricketer and person. After the Australian yellow and green, it’s the Royal blue that Watson keeps close to his heart.

In Pepsi IPL 2014, the long-time heir apparent has finally taken the Royal throne. Although Watson hasn’t had a honeymoon period with RR having a mixed start to the tournament, he has endured enough troughs and has ridden enough crests with the Royals to give up.

In a freewheeling chat with iplt20.com, Rajasthan Royals’ new captain talks everything that’s Royal and vows to take forward the legacy so proudly formed and nurtured by Shane Warne and Rahul Dravid.

Here is what the Royals’ new leader had to say:

How are you enjoying the captaincy?

It has been a lot of fun. There have been a few more ups and downs than I thought I would experience. It’s filled with more lows as it happens when you lose a few games and things don’t go to plan. But when we have won, it has been more satisfying than my personal performance.

RR have had inspirational leaders, in Shane Warne and Rahul Dravid. Did you ever feel you had big shoes to fill?

I know I have big shoes to fill, knowing what Shane Warne brought to the Rajasthan Royals from the very day that he arrived. He was an amazing captain, one of the very best I have played under. Then there’s Rahul Dravid, who took over from Warne and did an incredible job himself. To be able to observe closely someone who knows the game so well and yet remains a great student of the game, has been very enlightening. He has a stature in the game and he portrays that well in and around the team, but he is also one of the most humble people I have ever met. My style will be a bit different from Warne and Dravid but hopefully it is not different in a worse way. I am trying to be the best captain that I can be and have much to live up to.

You were one of the senior international players in the side. Were you groomed for leadership under the likes of Dravid and Paddy Upton and did that make taking up the captaincy easier?

It did definitely. Even last year, the input that Rahul and Paddy allowed me to have around the group meant that this year wasn’t a shock to the system. Also, the help that they have provided me this year has made my job so much easier. These two guys are as good as they get. I have a lot of ideas, having played under different captains and now I can put my stamp on the team by using them. I have been very lucky to have Rahul and Paddy around me to help me through that.

Do you go to Paddy Upton a lot to talk about individual players, given his background as a mental conditioning coach?

Paddy is one of the best coaches that I have had in a team. He is extraordinary in being able to get the best out of the people around him. He is one of the most impressive people I have come across. The knowledge he has on so many different things, and especially how people operate, is something I have never experienced before. I am using all his knowledge to become a better leader and he has helped me a lot already.

In these T20 leagues, the stress is on professionalism rather than loyalty and belonging since your team keeps changing. But you are the sole constant in RR’s squad since the first season. Does that make things different for you?

I really do care for the Rajasthan Royals. Apart from playing for my country, this is the only team I have been with for so long without having to move around. At home in Australia too I have moved around to different domestic teams in my life, but Rajasthan Royals has been very special since I have been with them since day-one. I have experienced the highs and also the lows a few times, when we got kicked out of the tournament. There have been other tough situations, which have made the journey even more touching. I have experienced all different types of emotions with the Royals and now leading the team is really an honour. It’s up to us to grow and learn from what we have been through as a franchise and take forward the legacy that Warne and Dravid have left behind.

Is it fair to say that as a star overseas player in RR, very early in your career you’ve had younger guys looking up to you? Has that matured you earlier as a cricketer?

The IPL has matured me a lot quicker. I have had interactions with a lot of different people here than I would have had normally. Playing for Australia, you are just with people from the culture you know very well and the one you have grown up in. Coming to play for the Royals, I’ve got to experience many different cultures – the Indian culture for sure but also the South Africa way with Graeme Smith in the first season and Paddy Upton now, the New Zealand ways, how different people go about their business – to study all that just broadens my horizon in an amazing way. It has made me much mature as a person and helped me be a better man to be around in a team.

I spoke with Stuart Binny the other day and he said that the best thing about your captaincy is that being an all-rounder you are able to think as a batsman and bowler while making decisions. Do you think that is an advantage?

I think it’s a big advantage. A majority of captains are just batsmen, which is good from the batting point of view. But it can be quite different from the bowling point of view in terms of how they think and I am very lucky in that regards because I understand both aspects inside out. It means there’s a bit more on my plate as compared to someone who just bats. But having a chance to contribute with bat and ball is something I have always loved and thrived on.

Are you a bowler’s captain? How much freedom would you give a young bowler, for instance, to form his own plans and set his own fields?

It involves a lot of understanding about the particular bowler in question and the situation he is faced with. Every individual needs to be treated differently on the field. Some players are very much in control of what they are doing and don’t need too many suggestions when faced with tough situations. Others need more guidance at times. My role as a captain is to understand the individuals and their needs and provide them with assistance accordingly. I understand that perspective as a bowler because I also know at times I’ve needed help from my captain and there were times when all I’ve needed is just a bit of a calm word before I figure out how to handle the pressure situation myself. I just try to balance it out the way my captains did with me.

To manage most young groups, there is a good cop and a bad cop. Which one are you? Are you hard on the boys after defeats or is that role taken up by someone else in the leadership group?

The great thing about the leadership group we have is that there are no bad cops. We’re not here to criticize or expose people when they make a mistake. That’s the way the game goes and mistakes are a part of the beauty of the game. We’re just there to help people learn from the things that don’t go well and encourage things that do go well on and off the field. I’d say we’re all good cops, there to help our players get the best out of themselves.

Is it easier to lead a team like RR where you don’t have to shoulder the weight of too many international super stars?

It is definitely less complex. If you have a team with big players and big egos, it provides very different dimensions to the environment. At the Royals, we’ve never had that; we’ve always had players who put the team before themselves and who are always looking to engage with the team rather than take away from the team. That was also part of our auction strategy, to make sure that along with bringing in cricketing talent, we also invest in personalities who would bring value to the team.

At times, do you wish you had someone like an AB de Villiers, a Steyn or Maxwell at your disposal or have you made peace with the strategy that RR have always had?

If getting those type of players fitted our strategy, we certainly would have moved in that direction. But one thing we’ve always done at the Royals is find raw talent and strive to get the best out of that talent. Everyone at the Royals knows that it is part of what we stand for as a franchise and it’s a legacy we intend to take forward – to develop young or even more experienced talent, like Pravin Tambe. Seeing people develop as cricketers and persons is more exciting for us than having a big player and hoping he has a great day and wins us the game.

How big a factor does it play in your comfort level as the leader that six out of RR’s eight overseas players are Australians?

It doesn’t make me any more comfortable than I would have been if we had players from other countries. It just turned out that some of the good overseas player I knew of are from Australia. The likes of Brad Hodge and James Faulkner, I don’t only know their game but also their personalities and that makes it a bit easier for me to captain them. It just so happened that we ended up with so many Australians. It also makes it a bit difficult when the English and the Sri Lankans are not so much available. But we also have someone like Tim Southee, who is a very nice guy. Before this, we had seen each other in a different light as compared to how we are now. Under pressure he is outstanding.

You’ve played under exceptional leaders like Ricky Ponting, Warne and Dravid. What is the one aspect of their leadership that you’d want to inculcate into yourself?

From Ricky Ponting, I’d want to learn how to have faith and belief in your players. He always saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. He always backed me, no matter what. That’s when I started doing things I never thought I could do. That’s something I want to take from him – having that unwavering belief in your players that makes them realize their own worth.

Shane Warne has this amazing ability to get the best out of individuals. I saw that with my own eyes in the first season of the IPL. He interacted with every individual differently and found different ways to get the best out of them. To be able to see that from such close quarters, it’s a very special talent that Shane Warne has.

With Rahul Dravid, the influence that he has because of his stature in the game, he provides such great role model to any young Indian cricketer coming through. As a leader he is extremely calm under pressure, but the example he sets with his actions to any young player coming up, speaks a million words in itself.