Shane Watson expects to play in Twenty20 World Cup

INJURY-prone Australian all-rounder Shane Watson is adamant his latest groin problem won't keep him out of next month's Twenty20 World Cup.

Watson hurt his groin during the seven-wicket loss to Pakistan in the Twenty20 match in Dubai last Thursday, which was the final fixture of the short tour.

He returned to Australia on Saturday morning to rest and recover, rather than go to South Africa for a short Indian Premier League stint.

The latest in a series of injuries cast some doubt over Watson's participation in the Twenty20 tournament, but he stressed it was only a minor problem.

"My groin is pretty good, it's only a very minor sort of strain," Watson said.

He said he would "definitely" be right by the time the Twenty20 World Cup started.

"But the medical staff at Cricket Australia thought it was better for me to come home and get over it with probably a week or two's rest instead of flying over to South Africa.

"We've got a couple or three weeks or so before the first practice match, so it should be plenty of time to get it right,"

He was also optimistic he would be able to resume bowling in a couple of weeks time.

"The last three weeks have been a big build up to my bowling so not to bowl (in the Twenty20 match in Dubai) was very disappointing for me," Watson said.

"I'm still so excited about improvements there are going to be in my bowling with little technical changes that I've made. I can't wait to be able to get out there in the next couple of weeks."

Watson finished off Australia's 3-2 series win in the one-day series against Pakistan with a couple of big scores including a century and said he was very happy with the way he was batting.

He was relishing the opportunity to open in limited overs cricket on a regular basis and doubted whether he would return to the middle order.

"I love being able to take on the new ball, there's a few more gaps when you're batting," he said.

"But also being able to take on the best fast bowlers in the world with a brand new ball is always a great challenge." link...