Sydney: Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson is truly one of the greatest all-rounders to have played the game. He called time on his illustrious T20 career after IPL 2020 in early November. He recently opened up on his time at IPL franchises like Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings.
Watson played most of his IPL cricket for Rajasthan Royals, where he played a key role in the title-winning campaign during the inaugural season. But it was his two-season stint with Royal Challengers Bangalore where he would experience one of the many ‘highlights’ of his career. Watson claims playing with Indian captain Virat Kohli is one of the highlights of his career. He also played his final three seasons in the IPL for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) led by MS Dhoni.
“One of my career highlights is actually playing with Virat at RCB. That was an amazing experience, for two reasons. To know Virat, what just to be able to understand what makes him tick on and off the field and just the great layers of a person that he’s got as well,” Watson said on the Grade Cricketer Podcast.
“It’s not just cricket. He’s a very interesting person, interested in other people as well. But then AB de Villiers at RCB as well. You just have to turn on your TV when he’s playing.”
After two unproductive years with RCB, Shane Watson was brought by the Chennai Super Kings in 2018. By then he had already brought down curtains from international cricket.
The 39-year-old further talked about playing in CSK under MS Dhoni’s leadership and Stephen Fleming’s guidance. Watson heaped praise on Fleming’s man-management skill and called him the best coach he has ever worked with.
“But CSK was an incredible experience to be with a team that was ageing, because of the experience we had, to be led by MS Dhoni, to be coached by Stephen Fleming, who is the best coach I’ve ever worked with. Fleming’s man-management skills, understanding of individuals and team environment, and also his cricket knowledge is ultimate. And of course the connection he had with MS Dhoni. That was a super cool experience,” Watson spoke of his CSK experience.
The 39-year-old Aussie has played 59 Tests, 190 ODIs and 58 T20s at the international level, and has played sum total of 145 IPL games, of which 43 matches were for MS Dhoni-led CSK.
