It was a special season with CSK, says Shane Watson

Shane Watson turned back the clock with a sensational knock in the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and won the title for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The former Australian scored his second century of the season and remained unbeaten on 117 off just 57 deliveries in the chase of 179 runs. Despite not being 100 percent fit, he delivered a power-packed performance with the bat and steered his team to their third title. However, Watson himself has admitted that it was a special season for him with the special franchise like CSK.

He was with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) last year and while he had also struggled to make an impact, his team had a miserable season as they ended up as the wooden spooners. The franchise didn’t retain him this year in the auction only for the Men in Yellow to snap him up for a whopping amount of Rs 4 Crore despite him being at the wrong end of his age.

Special season

Shane Watson was undoubtedly the Man of the Final after his heroics on the 22 yards at the Wankhede Stadium. His knock was only about whacking the ball as he went on to hit 11 fours and 8 sixes during his unbeaten stay in the middle. “It’s been a special season to be honest. To get a special season especially after the last season with RCB. It means a lot to be with a franchise like CSK,” the 36-year-old said in the post-match presentation.

Though all was not easy peasy for Watson in the middle as he struggled immensely against the moving ball early on and it took 11 balls for him to get off the mark. The Aussie admitted that he was under pressure after a slow start and was over the top after being able to convert it into a big one. “After those first ten balls, I was only hoping to catch up to at least a run-a-ball. Bhuvi is really good with the new ball and was lucky to get the opportunity to catch up. It was good that I got a couple of boundaries to hit and get on par to take it from there,” he added.

3-4 months rest

It was evident from his running and fielding that Watson was not 100 percent fit coming into this game. Moreover, he didn’t bowl at all in the last few matches and was even rested in the last league game ahead of the playoffs. Having been retired from international cricket, he will be able to rest for a considerable period of time after playing continuously from the last couple of months.

“The good thing is that I wouldn’t be playing for the next three-four months; feels great. It gives me plenty of time to recover. Throughout the back end of the tournament I was hanging on for dear life, Stephen Fleming and MS Dhoni have been looking after me really well and I am really glad to contribute like I did tonight,” the veteran concluded with a broad smile on his face.

[interaction id=”5b0a719f8b3c7b5097931035″]

Keep following CricTracker for more news and updates