
Courtesy: Cricket Australia
The Chris Hemsworth of international cricket? An unforgettable talent but also one whose journey was tampered with thanks to the painful tedium called injuries!
A beautiful talismanic batter who also fitted the part of Tarzan or a pinup idol, if you like, someone who was good with the cricket bat in hand as he was with the sheer intent with which he strolled the pitch, Shane Watson, it could be argued, was a bit of an enigma, born on June 17, 1981.
Even today, over half a decade since his international retirement, it just seems that had injuries not occurred, rather recurred in his case, Shane Watson was well on his way to etch his name as the greatest white-ball batter that Australia ever produced, alas it was never to be. Back scuffles, injuries to the tendon, lower back strains and whatnot; Watson continued to persevere despite one niggle too many and ended up with 7219 white-ball international runs for Cricket Australia beside 3700 plus test runs and some 291 international wickets.
Shane Watson played international cricket from 2005 to 2016
His was a career of immense promise, free-stroking hitting, dominant strike rates and overcoming spin and pace with elegance and ease of run-making, something very evident in his batting. Shane Watson with his high arm action and long, fluid run-up was rhythmic to see and effective to the end that he picked 168 one-day international wickets for his team.
Even when his career in white-ball T20I cricket was on its last legs, as far back as the 2016 key T20 World Cup game in Punjab against India, Shane Watson, then playing his last World Cup contest for Australia, put on a dogged all round show, given his late smatterings of the bat and diving agile fielding that involved a brilliant catch of Yuvraj Singh.
His 18 from the bat when the Aussies needed it and later on, the two critical wickets of Raina and Rohit marked his high class all round cricket talent, something he built his 307 international game-long career on.
As the great all rounder, but one who couldn’t be legendary one, turns 44, here’s looking at Shane Watson statistical highs:
1.) On the list of the 4th highest individual T20 score for Australia, Watson’s name sits fourth on the list for his country; his belligerent 124 that came off just 71 odd deliveries stunned India and included 6 sixes.
2.) Watson finds himself second on the list of the batsman with the second-highest individual score for Australia, his 185 came off just 96 odd deliveries against Bangladesh and blasted the hosts at Mirpur in 2011. Only Maxwell, with his iconic double century stands ahead of the resourceful Australian all rounder.
3.) Watto, as he was called, won the famed Allan Border medal in the year 2010. This is when the team had the likes of Mitch Johnson and the great Michael Clarke with Ponting still active as an international talent for the Aussies.
4.) He won an IPL title each with not only the famed Rajasthan Royals camp but even the iconic Chennai Super Kings unit. The first triumph came in 2008 and the other, in 2018.
5.) As a matter of fact, Shane Watson’s 117 unbeaten runs also happen to be the highest-score-ever by a batter in any IPL edition, where it comes to a final contest. What a knock that was, wasn’t it?