Former Australia crickter Shane Watson on Tuesday officially announced his retirement from all forms of the sport. He had already informed the teammates of his IPL franchise, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), after ending this year’s campaign on Sunday.
“As one amazing chapter closes, another very exciting one opens. I am forever grateful for everyone who was so good to me and helped me realise that dreams do come through. Now onto the next exciting chapter…,” he wrote along with a video titled ‘My retire announcement’ on t20stars.com.
The 39-year-old Watson, who had made his international debut at the age of 21 in 2002, represented Australia in 59 Tests, 190 ODIs and 58 T20Is and scored over 14,000 runs.
One of the most renowned all-rounders of his time, Watson also has 291 international wickets under his name. He had already hung his international boots in 2016.
“It all started out as a dream. As a young kid, watching a Test match when I was five years old, I told my mum that I want to play cricket for Australia. And now as I officially announce my retirement from all forms of cricket, I feel crazily lucky to have lived out my dream,” Watson said in the video.
Apart from his international career, Watson played 145 matches in the Indian Premier League for three franchises – Rajasthan Royals (78 games), Royal Challengers Bangalore (24) and Chennai Super Kings (43).
He was part of two title-winning teams, Rajasthan Royals in 2008 and CSK in 2018. He also won two Man of the Tournament Awards in 2008 and 2013.
Watson has scored a total of 3,874 runs, scored at a strike-rate of 137.91, and slammed four centuries and 21 half-centuries, including a century in the 2018 final. He has also capturing 92 wickets in the IPL, including a hat-trick.
“It really does feel like a right time, knowing that I played my last game of cricket ever for my beloved CSK, who have been so incredibly good to me over the last three years,” said Watson.
“To think that I am finishing my playing career as a 39-year-old, I feel so ridiculously fortunate,” he added.