'To our beloved Watto Man'- CSK pay a heartfelt tribute to the retiring Shane Watson

Chennai Super Kings’ star batsman Shane Watson bowed out of all forms of cricket after Yellow Army’s journey ended in this year’s IPL. Watson played 11 matches with the team this season and couldn’t show great form. It was only during the match against KXIP when he played a scintillating knock to take the team home splendidly. Apart from that, he was not at his utter best while being on the crease.

Watson was roped in by the CSK in 2018 for INR 4 crore and remained with the team for three seasons. The 39-yeat-old played a significant role in the yellow brigade’s win in the 2018 season, and it was his best season with the team. In IPL 2018, he smashed 555 runs at a strike-rate of 154.59 and produced two tons off his bat, and one of them came against SRH in the finale.

After he announced his retirement, CSK came up with a great tribute on their official Twitter handle. The five-minute video showed his journey, and the caption read- “To our beloved Watto Man, thank you for the memories in #yellove. Kneenga Vera Level, now and always. ???????? #WhistlePodu @ShaneRWatson33 #ThankYouWattoMan.”

CSK’s tribute to Shane Watson

To our beloved Watto Man, thank you for the memories in #yellove. Kneenga Vera Level, now and always. 🦁💛 #WhistlePodu @ShaneRWatson33 #ThankYouWattoMan pic.twitter.com/9blzb2dv2y

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) November 4, 2020

Watson also remained thankful for the backing he received from CSK’s team management. He thanked Stephen Fleming and MS Dhoni because he was not dropped from the team while he kept showing a dismal form in the 2019 season of IPL. However, his performance against Mumbai in the finals stole all the hearts. He played a splendid knock against MI even with a bleeding knee.

Though CSK had a heartbreaking loss against Mumbai by just one run, everyone applauded Watson for his heroics. In this season, he appeared in 11 matches alongside the team to score 299 runs at an average of 29.90. His season-best was 83* against KXIP, where the MSD-led side crushed opponents by 10 wickets.

Even the CSK side had a terrible outing this year, where they failed to grab a playoffs spot for the first time in the history of IPL. Their forgettable campaign ended after their last league match against Punjab, where they won the game by nine wickets.