Shane Watson retires from IPL; Chennai Super Kings teammates in shock

Dubai, November 2: Shane Watson, the Chennai Super Kings all-rounder, on Monday (November 2) announced retirement from all forms of cricket. As per a report in ToI, Watson has informed his CSK teammates about his decision to "retire from all forms of cricket."

Watson had joined the Chennai Super Kings in 2018, when the team bought him in the auctions. He played stellar role for CSK in two IPL editions in 2018 and 2019. By then, Watson had already retired from international cricket.

In the IPL 2018, the year when CSK returned to the IPL fold after the suspension, Watson slammed a hundred in the final helping the franchise to grab their third title. In the IPL 2019 too, the Australian cricketer played some crucial knocks helping them to reach the final where they lost to Mumbai Indians.

However, in the IPL 2020, Watson had rather colourless outings and did not bowl too. However, he made an unbeaten 83 against Kings XI Punjab and help Chennai Super Kings achieve a 10-wicket win along with Faf du Plessis.

Watson is highly successful player in the IPL, and remains one of the rare cricketers to have won the title with different teams. Watson was a member of the Rajasthan Royals outfit that won the inaugural IPL in 2008 under Shane Warne.

Later he turned out for Royal Challengers Bangalore as well but his stint with RCB was a rather forgettable one. In that context, it was a surprise when Chennai Super Kings bought him in the auction ahead of IPL 2018.

Watson had played 59 Tests, made 3731 runs at 35.2 with 4 hundreds and 24 fifties and from 190 ODIs, he has made 5757 runs at 40.54 with 9 hundreds and 33 fifties. From 58 T20Is, Watson has made 1462 runs with a hundred and 10 fifties. He has 75, 168 and 48 wickets in Tests, ODIs and T20Is respectively.

Watson has played 145 IPL matches and made 3874 runs with four hundreds and 21 fifties.