Former Australia international Shane Watson has been one of the best all-rounders in the world. The 38-year-old Aussie has entertained fans while playing for his nation and in various other franchise leagues. A potent threat with both bat and ball, Watto has always remained a threat to the opposite team, especially in the shortest format of the game.
While Watson has captained Australia in a few matches, he has played under several captains in his 19 years of cricketing career. The Aussie star recently revealed four best captains under whom he has played the gentlemen’s game, and two legendary names from India were on his list.
Shane Watson’s favorite captains
Watson was having a chat with ESPN Cricinfo when one of the questions asked to him was who is his favorite captain he has played under. Watto made his Australia debut in 2002 under Ricky Ponting and played the majority of his international games under him. He also played under Michael Clarke and Steve Smith, while himself captaining the Kangaroos.
While in the IPL, Watson’s first captain was his country-mate Shane Warne in Rajasthan Royals, and then India great Rahul Dravid took over from the veteran leg-spinner. From there on, Virat Kohli captained Watson in RCB, and he has spent the last two seasons under the leadership of MS Dhoni at the CSK, winning the IPL title in 2018 and reaching the finals in 2019. Therefore, when asked about his favorite captains, Watson named Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne, Rahul Dravid, and MS Dhoni.
CSK has retained Watson for IPL 2020, and though he has called time from other T20 leagues like Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL), West Indies’ Caribbean Premier League (CPL), he will continue playing in the IPL. He has impressive statistics in the Indian T20 league with 3575 runs, four centuries with the highest score of 117 not out, which came in the finals of the IPL 2018 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). He has also registered 19 half-centuries at a strike rate of 139.53 and an average of 31.08.
