Shane Watson’s professional career in numbers

Shane Watson bid adieu to his professional cricketing career following Chennai Super Kings’ exit from the IPL 2020. Watson made his international debut only a year after his first-class debut but took time before being a regular in the national team.

The Queensland-born played many match-winning knocks as an opener and also bowled crucial spells in all the three formats for the Aussies.

His all-round performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL) do get a special mention as he was clinical in helping the underdogs Rajasthan Royals lift the title in the inaugural edition.

Here are the major stats and records created by Shane Watson during his 19-year professional career:

1 – Shane Watson was the first of the three players with the double of a fifty and four-wicket haul in both ODI and T20I formats. Watson scored 66* and took 4/39 against ICC World XI in the 2005 Docklands ODI and scored 59 runs and took 4/15 during the 2011 Adelaide T20I against England.

Only Mohammad Hafeez and Ellyse Perry have achieved this feat after Watson thus far. The former Aussie all-rounder was also only the second player to achieve the double of a fifty and four-fer in T20I history.

1 – Shane Watson is the only player to score over 450+ runs and also pick 15+ wickets in the same edition of the IPL. He aggregated 472 runs and also bagged 17 wickets during the inaugural edition of IPL for the Rajasthan Royals.

Samit Patel, Sean Ervine and Ravi Bopara are the other players to achieve the double of 450+ runs and 15+ wickets in a T20 series/tournament; all the three during the 2010 English T20 Cup only.

2 – Kieron Pollard and Shane Watson are the only players with 8000+ runs and 200+ wickets in the Twenty20 format. Pollard and Watson are also the only players with the double of 3000+ runs and 50+ wickets in the IPL.

2 – Shane Watson is one of the two players to score hundreds in semi-final and final of the same tournament in international cricket. Watson scored unbeaten tons while chasing against England and New Zealand during the semis and final respectively of the 2009 Champions Trophy.

Sourav Ganguly achieved this feat during the 2000 Champions Trophy. Saeed Anwar (quarters and semis) during 2000 CT and David Warner (first final and second final) also struck multiple tons in the knockout matches of a tournament in international cricket.

3 – Shane Watson has claimed three five-wicket hauls in his Test career; all of those came in the matches where he played as an opener. Trevor Goddard (5) and Vinoo Mankad (4) are the only players with more than three five-fers in Test cricket while playing as an opener.

4 – Watson was awarded the player of the match award in four successive games during the 2012 WT20. He is the only player to receive PoTM awards in four consecutive matches in an ICC event. Watson was the player of the match in both games of Australia in the Group Stage and their first two games of the Super-8s round.

8 – A total of eight players in international cricket have scored 10000+ runs and took 250+ wickets out of which Steve Waugh and Watson are the only Australians. The two players are also the only Australians to achieve the double of 5000+ runs and 150+ wickets in ODI cricket alongside nine other cricketers.

15 – Watson smashed a total of 15 sixes during his unbeaten century in the 2011 Dhaka ODI against Bangladesh. These are the most number of sixes hit by an Australian in an ODI game and was also the then world record for most sixes in an ODI inning.

21 – Watson claimed five wickets in only 21 balls during the 2011 Cape Town Test against South Africa. It is the 3rd quickest known individual five-wicket haul in the history of Test cricket. Ernie Toshack against India in the 1947 Brisbane Test and Stuart Broad against Australia in the 2015 Nottingham Test got their five-fers in only 19 balls.

117* – Watson’s unbeaten 117 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2018 IPL final is the highest individual score recorded in an IPL final till date. Watson struck 11 fours and eight maximums during his 57-ball stay to help Chennai Super Kings win their third IPL title. It was also Watson’s last of his four centuries in the IPL and is one of the four players to record four or more IPL tons.

124* – Shane Watson, with his unbeaten 124 against India in 2016 Sydney T20I, became the first Australian to score a men’s T20I century as captain. It was also the first T20I hundred ever recorded on Australian soil.

This hundred ensured that Watson became the first Australian in international cricket to score centuries in all three formats. Watson’s feat has been accomplished by only Glenn Maxwell and David Warner thus far.

185* – Watson’s unbeaten 185 against Bangladesh in the 2011 Dhaka ODI is the highest individual score in ODI cricket while chasing. It is also the highest individual ODI score for Australia in men’s cricket. Watson scored 150 runs through boundaries itself during his 96-ball 185* against Bangladesh which are the third-most by any player in an ODI inning.