23 Interesting facts about Shane Watson

23 Interesting facts about Shane Watson: Despite decades of dominance, Australian cricket had been unable to discover a genuine all-rounder since the days of Benaud and Davidson. Watson was earmarked to reverse that trend. To conquer international cricket, Shane Watson first had to beat his fragile body and he refused to give up. Despite frequent injury threats he continued to persevere and eventually went on to become a vital cog in the Australian unit. Though he was not exactly at his best in the Tests, he still managed to give some memorable performances.

Today we look at 23 Interesting facts about Shane Watson:

1. Test career in numbers

Watson played 59 Tests for Australia, scoring 3,731 runs, taking 75 wickets and holding 45 catches.

2. A Scholar

Watson is a scholarship holder from AIS (Australian Cricket Academy). He received it in the year 2000.

3. A memorable performance

In the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy Final, Australia defeated West Indies and won the tournament. Watson was given the Man of the Match award for his contribution of 57 runs and taking 2 wickets.

4. The IPL 

Watson was purchased for USD 1,25,000 by the Rajasthan Royals in the first edition of the IPL in 2008. He turned out to be the most valuable player of the tournament helping his side to lift the trophy.

5. Batting style

At the crease he is an aggressive brutal batsman with a broad chest, resembling a right-handed disciple of Matthew Hayden, and someone who often doesn’t need to follow-through to gain a boundary.

6. Bowling style

As a bowler, he is willing and speedy, but prone to post-delivery exchanges. He picks up handy wickets and delivers useful overs in all forms, although he is a batting allrounder and not someone who would usually be picked on bowling alone.

Also Read – Top 10 batsmen with most 200s in Test cricket

7. Well done

He is the only player to win four consecutive Man of the Match awards in an ICC event.

8. KUDOS!!

Watson has the best all round figures among Australian men who have scored excess of 2000 runs and took at least 100 wickets.

9. List of achievements in Tests

His memories in the whites include – a 2013-14 Ashes win, 2011 ICC Test player of the year, two-time Allan Border Medal winner and becoming the 44th Test captain of Australia against India in Delhi in 2013.

10. A unique one

Watson is the only player to have won the ICC player of the year award in all three formats.

11. Test debut

Debuting at the SCG against Pakistan in January 2005, as a blond-haired 23-year-old, he scored 31 and captured the prize scalp of Younis Khan as his first Test wicket.

12. The unfortunate break

After making his ODI debut in 2002, he was a regular member of the side but 3 stress fractures just before the 2003 World Cup forced him to sit out of the tournament.

13. Truly fantastic

He was declared man of the series in the 2012 ICC World T20 for scoring a total of 249 with an average of 49.80, while taking 11 wickets with the ball.

14. The shorter formats

Watson holds several records in ODIs and T20Is like the highest ODI score in a run chase, and the highest ODI score by an Australian batsman.

Also Read – Top 10 Most runs scored in an over in T20Is

15. Stomach pain mistaken for a heart attack

In 2006, the Australian team were in Mohali during the ICC Champions Trophy. Ahead of a training session, his chest started hurting and he was taken to the hospital. He feared that it was a heart-attack, but fortunately, it was only gastritis. Watson recovered and played the rest of the tournament as Australia went on to win their maiden Champions Trophy.

16. The role of IPL

Watson’s career was at crossroads in 2007-08 as injuries prevented him from pushing for a regular spot in the Australian team. Then came the first edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008, where he was picked by Rajasthan Royals for USD 125,000. In a tournament that saw Rajasthan win against all odds, Watson was their biggest success as he scored 472 runs at an average of 47.20 in 15 matches. To back that up, he also picked 17 wickets and won the Man of the Tournament award.

17. The decline

Watson only reached a half-century in Tests 11 times in 62 innings since the start of 2011, while failing to get past single figures 14 times in the same period.

18. The Watson-Katich pair

He and Simon Katich were a devastating opening pair and averaged 54.39 in their 28 innings together. To put that in perspective; it is better than Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes (47.31), Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer (51.88) and Marvin Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya (40.26) to name a few.

19. First T20 hundred

In the 2013 edition of the IPL, Watson got his first hundred in the tournament against Chennai at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. He scored 101 of 61 balls hitting 6 boundaries and six sixes. This was also his first hundred in T20 cricket.

20. Royals skipper

On the back of his all-round performances in the IPL, his team Rajasthan retained him for the seventh edition of the IPL in 2014 and also appointed him as the skipper after Rahul Dravid retired at the end of the 2013 season.

21. We feel for you Bangladesh!!

Shane’s highest ODI score is 185 not out in 96 balls against Bangladesh in 2011. He hit 15 fours and 15 sixes in the match which broke several ODI records.

22. Not Test Match material

One factor that is held against Watson is that despite playing 59 Tests, he only notched up four hundreds.

23. An average 2015 World Cup

Watson’s performance in the 2015 World Cup was lukewarm. He hit two fifties, one against Sri Lanka and the other against Pakistan, both being important knocks. However, he was not able to contribute much apart from that.