Australian public never realised Shane Watson's worth: Marcus Stoinis

Shane Watson had a stellar season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year during his maiden stint with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He was absolutely special on the night of the final and ripped apart the best bowling attack of the tournament. The former Aussie cricketer went on to score 117 off just 57 balls and remained unbeaten until the end. However, Marcus Stoinis has feels that Watson can still play for his country and bemoaned the fact that the Australian public never realised his worth when he used to don the Yellow jersey for Australia.

Stoinis was the part of Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) this year and didn’t have a fruitful season like his country mate. His team was knocked out of the league phase after starting the season with a bang. But the all-rounder was all praise of Watson after his exploits in the title clash against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

Can still play for Australia

Shane Watson amassed 555 runs in 15 innings at an average of close to 40 and a strike-rate of 154.60 for CSK this year which has left many in awe of him. Marcus Stoinis believes that he can still play for Australia after pummelling the bowlers in the IPL. But he also pointed out that Watto likes to enjoy the time with his family now and played a lot of cricket for Australia when the team needed him the most.

“He’s still good enough to play for Australia, for sure. (But) I think he enjoys having family time. He played a lot of cricket for Australia in a demanding time, so I think he’s just enjoying playing the odd tournament and then going back (to his family),” Stoinis was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

Stoinis also reflected the time when he was mentored by the veteran and came down hard at he Australian public for not respecting him when he was playing at full tilt for Australia. “We sat down over there (in India) and he’s mentored me for a couple of years now. His hunger to keep getting better at the end of his career, it’s no coincidence why he’s so good. I don’t think the Australian public realised how good he was when he was playing for Australia,” the 28-year-old added.

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