On November 02, 2020: Australian All-Rounder Shane Watson announces Retirement. The Australian all-rounder Shane Watson announces retirement. He bid farewell to the gentleman’s game– a sad day for his fans. The dream-like career of an outstanding Australian batsman has come to a standstill. He certainly has broken many world records including leading in all the three formats from Australia, Australian highest ODI score, and two world cup titles. He even has the highest runs in T20 World Cups for Australia.
The 39-year old cricketer has already retired from International Cricket in 2016. In 2019, he even bid his adieu to the Australian Big Bash League. But, now the time has come for the Australian player to close another chapter of his mesmerizing career.
Since the beginning of the 13th IPL, he was an essential part of MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Following CSK’s ouster, Watson contemplated his retirement from all forms of cricket. The renowned Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi congratulated the former Australian cricketer for his emblematic career in cricket.
Afridi dedicated a special message to Watson on his official Twitter account, “Congratulations on a wonderful career @ShaneRWatson33. You were one of the greatest all-rounders of modern-day cricket, really enjoyed playing against you. Hope you have a great time and life post-retirement.”
As the Australian National Team all-rounder cricketer, he had played 190 One Day Internationals, 57 Test Series, and about 58 T20 International matches. Throughout his career, Watson has smashed a huge total of 10,950 runs and also acquired 291 wickets for his team.
Let’s take a look at the ornamented cricket career:-
One Day Internationals
Watson has played about 190 ODI’s in his career. He made his first ODI debut replacing Steve Waugh. But he was replaced by Queensland Teammate Andrew Symonds at the start of 2003 as he suffered three stress fractures. However, he returned to his ODI in 2004 as a bowling all-rounder.
In 2006, he opened at the ICC World Cup and smashed a score of 50 runs against India in the third match. Due to which the Australian Team bagged a position in the semi-finals. He gained his momentum. In the finals, he took 2 wickets and smashed 57 runs (not out), sealing the victory for Team Australia.
Again, in the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy, Watson scored 2 centuries against New Zealand in the finals & England in the semi-finals which made him the rising star of the Australian team as the team defended their victory. Watson won a series of Australian “Player of the Year” award in the year 2010-2013.
In the 2015 World Cup, he scored 67 runs against Sri Lanka, and 64 runs against Australia. He helped the team reach the finals and even win the tournament with his over-the-top performance.
Shane Watson became the last player from the early 2000s golden era of Team Australia to retire in 2016. His contribution to cricket was more than satisfactory, as many would say.
Talking about his marvelous records. He was the fastest to score 5000 runs and also to take 150 wickets for Australia. He is also known as the Australian who has the highest ODI score and the highest sixes in an innings.
Test Cricket
In 2002, Watson got selected for his first Test Series against South Africa. After he topped the Pura Cup, wicket-taking charts for Tasmania. After the injury, he also made his Test Series debut against Pakistan as the fifth bowler. Since 2005, he had been the fifth bowler and all-rounder following the 2005 Ashes series.
In the year 2010, Watson finally smashed his second test century against. He scored 126 runs off 338 balls on a slow-paced and low pitch at Mohali. Though his career in Test Series is not outstanding. But, he will always be remembered for his dedication and love for cricket. In total, Watson has played just 57 test matches.
T20 International Cricket
Out of all formats, we guess, T20I was his favorite due to his outstanding record-breaking career in T20 Internationals. Watson was named as the captain in T20 Internationals on January 31, 2016. Indeed, he listed his name as one of the few Australians who have become captains in all the formats.
After a long gap, he opened the T20 innings and smashed 124 runs (not out). He was Australia’s T20 International Player of the Year on 23 January 2017.
After his retirement from International cricket, Watson has represented various T20 franchises across tournaments around the world. The right-hand batsman had scored about 8,821 runs in a total of 343 T20I matches. He has acquired centuries in 6 matches and 56 half-centuries. He had a strike rate of 138.30 runs and an average of 29.30.
Indian Premier League (IPL)
In the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League in 2008, Watson made his entry in IPL. He has persuaded the IPL deal with a worth of $125,000 by Rajasthan Royals. He won the title of “Man of the Tournament” and became the “King of hearts” for RRs fans. By scoring fantastic four half-centuries and acquiring blazing 17 wickets.
Watson has also played under the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings. The right-hand Australian batsman having a strike rate of 137.91 while an average of 30.99. He has scored a total of 3,874 runs in 145 IPL matches. In the extravaganza T20 league, Watson has 92 scalps to his name. He is the one and only all-rounder having runs over 3,500 and wickets more than 90.
After the Australian all-rounder Shane Watson announces retirement, he got very emotional at the CSK dressing room. During his last CSK game in the IPL 2020. He said, “It was a great privilege for him to play for the franchise.”
Watson also added, “It really does feel like the right time. Knowing that I’ve played my last game of cricket ever, for my beloved CSK. Who’s been so incredibly good to me over the last three years. To think that I’m finishing up my playing days. As a 39-year-old after all of the injury setbacks that I’ve had along the way. I feel so ridiculously fortunate and blessed to be crazily lucky to live out my dream.”
