Shane Watson, Chennai super kings (CSK) all-rounder, decides to retire from all forms of cricket on tuesday. He had appeared for Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore before CSK. He played a key role in the inaugural edition of the Royals' first title victory in 2008.
"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," said the captain in a video posted on his Twitter handle.
In the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League, he made his name when playing for the Rajasthan Royals. Watson then switched to Royal Challengers Bangalore after plying his trade for RR.
In the last three editions of the tournament, the hard-hitting Australian all-rounder proved the critics wrong in playing for Chennai Super Kings. At a strike rate of 137.91, Watson played 145 IPL matches and scored 3874 runs.In this year's IPL, he did not bowl, but his medium pace over the years was beneficial. He finished in the IPL with 92 wickets.
.After CSK 's final IPL 2020 match against Kings XI Punjab on Sunday, which the Yellow Army won by nine wickets, Watson had notified of his decision.
"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..." tweeted the captain.
Watson also spoke on his YouTube channel. Mentioning that his journey would never have been possible without his cricketing icons, thanking his parents, sister and wife.He remembered that he wanted to play Australia when his mother took him to a test match at the age of five
At international level, Watson played 59 Tests, 190 ODIs and 58 T20Is. In both 2007 and 2015, the veteran Australian all-rounder won two Word Cups on the Australian team.
In 2015,Watson had already retired from international cricket. He played a crucial role in the third IPL title victory of the Chennai-based franchise in 2018 with a century in the final