IT takes a certain amount of confidence to throw down the gauntlet to Virat Kohli but then again Mark Watt clearly isn’t lacking in self-belief.

The Scotland spinner presumably had a smile on his face when he told one of cricket’s all-time greats he was coming for his wicket, given that India were already well on their way to clinching a comprehensive T20 World Cup victory.

It still speaks volumes, though, for the 25 year-old’s state of mind that he was willing to make the comment even in jest, a sign of his soaring confidence on the back of what could well be his breakthrough tournament.

Scotland finish up their fixtures against Pakistan hoping for a first Super 12 victory after four successive losses but Watt has emerged from that disappointing run with his reputation not only intact but enhanced thanks to his smart and economical bowling.

Kohli and legendary spinner Ravi Ashwin were among those to say they have been impressed with the Scot’s performances and that has been music to his ears.

“Speaking to Ravi for a good half hour or so was really eye-opening stuff,” he said. “It wasn’t really technical stuff but just about when to bowl certain balls and how much time he puts into looking at what the batters are doing, and how they play against spin etc.

“He was really complimentary about my bowling. He said I was bowling at the right pace for international cricket against big teams, and that I was a really smart cricketer who uses the crease really well.

“He also told me their batters used a lot of analysis work on me which was cool to hear that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were looking at videos of me bowling before playing against me. They all rate me quite highly and I’ll take a lot of confidence from that.”

Watt’s performances have been fuelled by a mindset of no regrets. Bowling in T20 can be a precarious business but the Edinburgh player has bucked the trend by frustrating batters with his variations of spin, pace and distance.

Pakistan will provide one more test of his credentials but he has thrived in this situation and hopes it may open other doors.

“We had good prep before the tournament and played a lot of cricket in these conditions. I just felt like I was in a really good rhythm. I felt confident. We’d been training for the past two years without any games. There was no point in me going home and wishing I had done this or that. I’ve just been going for it and leaving everything out on the park.

“It’s just little things like bowling from 25 yards to keep the batter guessing to get a dot ball here and there. I’ve practised my yorkers for two years now and I’m trying to nail them just to get myself a bit of breathing space.

“T20 franchise cricket would be amazing so I can play more regularly against the guys we’ve been facing in this tournament. I feel I could play at that level and hopefully this tournament will open things up for myself and some of the other boys, too.”

Scotland’s progression may have stalled after a strong part but their early success has brought messages of support from a number of unlikely sources.

Ally McCoist waxed lyrical about the team on his radio show while Hearts-daft Watt received a special comment from one of his heroes.

He revealed “I put up an Insta post the other day of Kane Williamson [the New Zealand captain] and I had John Robertson of all people commenting, so that was a bit odd and pretty special. I think I was more excited about that than meeting the Indian boys!

“And Ally McCoist got all of the terminology right so he is obviously a cricket fan. He said he watched every ball we bowled against England [in 2018] and that was special. To see him talking about it on TalkSport, he is obviously very patriotic.

“You get people like that commenting and it shows that what we are doing is getting out to the wider Scottish sporting community and more and more cricket is getting talked about. It has been a magical six or seven weeks.”

And what exactly did he say to Kohli? Watt laughs. “I’d said to him when he came in ‘I’m going to get you today’ but it didn’t pan out that way! thought he would run down and try to hit me over the top. It wasn’t to be but hopefully I’ll get another chance one day.”

On this sort of form there is every chance.