Shane Watson retirement from IPL: CSK all-rounder retires from all formats

Shane Watson retirement: The 39-year old player has decided to retire from all formats four years after retiring from international cricket.

Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson has reportedly retired from “all forms of cricket” after his Indian Premier League franchise Chennai Super Kings got ruled out of the ongoing 13th season of the IPL.

Watson, 39, had last played international cricket during the ICC World Twenty20 in 2016 in India. It was whilst playing the tournament that Watson had announced his international retirement.

Since then, Watson has represented various T20 franchises across tournament around the world. In 343 T20s, the right-hand batsman had scored 8,821 runs at an average and strike rate of 29.30 and 138.30 respectively and included six centuries and 56 half-centuries.

Watson, who was more than just a handy customer with the ball in hand, had also dismissed 216 batsmen in the format at an average of 27.02, an economy rate of 7.90 and a strike rate of 20.5.

Shane Watson retirement from IPL

Watson’s decorated IPL career comprised of stints with Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings. In 145 IPL appearances, Watson’s 3,874 runs had come at an average and strike rate of 30.99 and 137.91. Only all-rounder in the IPL to score 3,500+ runs and pick 90+ wickets, Watson also had 92 scalps to his name in the biggest T20 league.

“[Shane] Watson was very emotional when he told the CSK dressing room after the last game that he would retire. He said that it was a great privilege for him to play for the franchise,” a source close to the franchise was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

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