Conceivably the best limited overs all-rounder of the fashoinable era Shane Watson was the best package for white-ball cricket. Shane Henry Martyn Robert watson born seventeen June 1981 Queensland could be a former Australian jock, and occasional captain in all formats, who has played for Australia's national cricket team. His height is 1.83 meters and his nickname is watto. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast-medium swing bowler who played international cricket between 2002 and 2016 as world No. 1 T20I all-rounder. He was the last player to retire from Australia's golden era of the first 2000s.
Figure : Shane Robert Watson
Like most all-rounders, he aditionally began his international career as the middle order batsman before eventually being promoted as an opener. It was while batting at the top or opening, Watson made some of his most destructive knocks - notably the semi-final and final knocks of the 2009 Champions Trophy where he almost single-handedly took Australia to the title. Watson made his international debut in 2002 during the tour of South Africa in the ODI series. Australia had just appointed Ricky Ponting as the skipper and also decided to make a selection overhaul of sorts. With their obsession for bits-and-pieces all-rounders, Watson was an obvious selection considering that he was more than just a utility all-rounder. However, fitness was a big issue for him, as it would turn out to be throughout his career. He had to battle his body more times than he had to deal with bad form and that's telling a lot. Despite all that, Watson had a fairly good international career, especially in limited-overs cricket where he truly shone. Also, Watson was the key member contributing to Australia's 2015 cricket world cup triumph.
Figure : Australia's Men Cricket lifting WC 2015
The success in white-ball cricket gave Watson the chance in Tests in 2005 but injuries plagued him in a big way which meant that he had to wait till the 2008-09 season to play the format frequently. Like in ODIs, here also Watson started off as a middle order batsman before being pushed to the opening slot in the midst of a grueling Ashes series. He didn't struggle as many expected he would, instead started the new role with a flourish but that move to send him to the top in Tests was probably in hindsight a confidence-destroying move to his Test career.
Figure : Watson(on right) in his final test match of career
The latter stages of Watson's Test career was a blob as he huffed and puffed in the format. Nevertheless, he did play a few fine knocks as well although most of them got clouded by the dismal finish to his career. However, he was always a force to reckon with in the shorter formats. The T20 format was also his pet - he had exceptional success not only for Australia but also in the IPL where he became a household name due to his all-round skills. After the Ashes defeat in England in 2015, Watson decided to quit from Tests. He played the ODIs that followed but was dropped soon after and in 2016, decided to call it quits from all forms of international cricket.
Figure : Shane Watson (2015)
It won't be wrong to say that Watson hasn't always been talked about as much as he deserved to. He didn't have a lovable personality for that perhaps and his comical tryst with the DRS made him further unpopular as he would often make bizarre reviews against seemingly plumb LBW calls. But all the jokes apart, the fact is that he was a gun player for Australia in white-ball cricket, a real giant who could have done even better if he had better fitness. Post-retirement, Watson has been having a gala time in the T20 leagues across the globe.
Watson signed with BBL franchise Sydney Thunder in 2015. He was the captain of the team. Watson announced his retirement from the BBL on 26 April 2019.
In 2016, PSL announced Shane Watson as the Icon player of the league and was the first foreign player picked in the draft. He currently plays for Quetta Gladiators and has been the player of the tournament 2019. In 2016, CPL announced Shane Watson as the marquee player of the league. He played the league for two seasons.
Figure : Shane Watson in different T20 leagues
Talking about his IPL career, Watson had made a grand entry into the IPL with a stellar opening season in 2008 for Rajasthan Royals. Not only was he the leading run-scorer for the side, but he was also the third-highest wicket-taker and played a crucial role in the Royals' success story. He missed the next season due to national duties and injury but continued to take part in the tournament from 2010. It was only from 2013 that he was fully into the IPL as he was a part of the Australian setup. He yet again topped the batting charts for the Royals in IPK-5 and also made his maiden IPL hundred, 101 against CSK.
The all-rounder led the Royals in 2014 but had a modest outing by his standards. He was back among the runs in 2015 but had to battle injuries and missed a few games. However, he went to make an unbeaten 104 against Kolkata Knight Riders that season. In 2016, he was picked by Royal Challengers Bangalore and he bagged 20 wickets in the tournament.
In 2018, CSK pouched him at the auctions and Watson stunned everyone with his blitz when the tournament began. He silenced critics who were opining that he didn't have the mettle to still be part of the IPL caravan by smashing a really handsome 555 runs in the season - his best in IPL history. While he was batting mostly in the middle-order at RCB, Dhoni gave the luxury of opening the batting and the Australian was in full flow and even tonked a couple of hundreds in the season.
Figure : Shane Watson Scoring Century in 2018 IPL Final
His knock in the IPL final against Sunrisers Hyderabad was unbelievable to watch. He struggled to put the bat on the ball and failed to open his account after ten balls in a chase of 179. But, in a brilliant batting display, he completed a hundred in the next 40 balls to become the fourth player to score two-plus hundreds in IPL. The innings ensured that the Super Kings coasted to victory on their comeback. The 2019 season was underwhelming for Watson who still got backed throughout the tournament and his big-game abilities came to the fore in the final where he nearly repeated his 2018 heroics, with CSK falling just short.
Finally, he announced retirement from all formats of the game on November 02, 2020, after his team, CSK played the final league game of IPL. He was the real gem of white-ball cricket in the modern era. He will be missed by many of his fans and cricket lovers around the globe.
Key International Records
- The first player to score a century and have taken four wickets in an innings in all forms of cricket.
- First Australian to score international centuries in all three formats.
- Fastest player to score 6,000 runs and take 200 wickets in Twenty20 matches; achieved in 249 matches.
- The first player to win the Australian "Player of the Year" award in all formats. Won seven such awards (3 ODI, 3 T20I, 1 Test), which is the most by any player.
- Held the number one ICC T20I ranking position for a record 150 weeks, including a record 120 consecutive weeks.
- The first player to have held the number one ranking in both the batting and all-rounder category in T20Is.
- The only player to score a century and have taken four wickets in an innings in T20Is.
- Most wickets and sixes by an Australian in T20Is.
- Fastest Australian to score 5000 runs and take 150 wickets in one-day internationals.
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