Two Finals, Two Different Stories: Shane Watson Recalls His Redemptive Century in 2018 IPL Final Against Sunrisers Hyderabad
Recently, the former Aussie all-rounder opened up his sensational knock and called it the redemption of his poor performance in IPL 2016 final where he played for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). In his quota of four overs, Watson gave away 61 runs which proved to be vital in Bangalore’s loss by 8 runs.
Shane Watson played a crucial role in guiding Chennai Super Kings to the title in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018. Chasing a mammoth looking target of 179 runs, the swashbuckling batsman unleashed absolute mayhem and scored a memorable century, guiding his side to an eight-wicket victory. Recently, the former Aussie all-rounder opened up his sensational knock and called it the redemption of his poor performance in IPL 2016 final where he played for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). In his quota of four overs, Watson gave away 61 runs which proved to be vital in Bangalore’s loss by 8 runs. Shane Watson Opens Up About His Sensational Knock With Bleeding Knee During CSK vs MI IPL 2019 Final Match.
Interestingly, Watson played both finals against Surisers Hyderabad (SRH) and he was certainly satisfied with his latter performance. “Hundred in the final for CSK was like icing on the cake. Two years before, I had played in the final for RCB, and even though I gave my all, I had an absolute shocker. Because of the overs that I bowled and at the position where I batted, towards the middle overs in the back of the innings, I absolutely stuffed it,” the 2015 World Cup-winning all-rounder said while speaking to cricket.com.au.
Recalling his performance in 2016 IPL final, Watson said that he was trying to give his best and maybe that’s the reason why he wasn’t able to deliver. He said that he got at the very wrong time and he had nothing but to blame himself for the performance.
“I went for about 60 runs in my four overs. Ben Cutting got a real hold of me. I was trying my absolute best, maybe trying too hard, because I wanted to perform well. When batting, I got out at a really bad time, when I needed to stay on. I solely blamed myself for the loss,” Watson said.
Further in the conversation, Watson revealed that he learnt from his experience in 2016 and used it 2018 final. “So, I had that on my back for the next couple of years. When I got a chance to play a final for CSK, I wanted to make amends. I thought I won’t try harder, but will use what I learnt from technical and mental perspectives. I need to be in better space - to try and perform better - hopefully play a match-winning innings,” the 38-year old said.
Watson was set to don the CSK jersey once again in the 2020 edition of the tournament. However, the 13th season of IPL has been postponed indefinitely amid the COVID-19 pandemic and hence, fans are unlikely to witness the action in the T20 extravaganza.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 23, 2020 06:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).