Australian all-rounder Shane Watson on Tuesday, 3 November, announced his retirement from all forms of competitive cricket after the Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) league stage exit from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.
Watson, part of Australia’s 2015 ODI World Cup winning, had called time on his international career in 2016 and made his last appearance in the Big Bash League in 2019.
"It all started as a dream as a young kid saying to my Mum, as I watched a Test match, that I want to play for Australia. Now as I officially announce my retirement from all cricket I feel crazily lucky to live my dream," Watson said in a video posted on his Twitter handle.
"This closing chapter is going to be so hard to top, but I am going to try. I truly am forever grateful to have lived this amazing dream. Now onto the next exciting one...," Watson said.
Watson played 59 Tests, 190 ODIs and 58 T20Is at the international level.
A sought-after player in the T20 format, Watson has 3,874 runs in 145 IPL games with four hundreds and 21 fifties. He also has 92 wickets - including a hat-trick against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the 2014 edition.
In the IPL, Watson began his journey with the Rajasthan Royals (RR) and was the highest paid overseas player in 2014, before he became a crucial cog in the CSK side. He also played for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for two seasons in 2016 and 2017, captaining them briefly in the second when Virat Kohli was unavailable.
In IPL 2020, Watson turned out for CSK in 11 games and scored 299 runs with a highest score of 83 against the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in a 10-wicket win.
In the three years that he played for CSK after being picked in the 2018 IPL Auction, Watson has scored 1,252 runs in the 43 matches he has played, at an average of 30.98 with 7 fifties and 2 centuries.
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