In a surprise development, Australian all-rounder Shane Watson on Thursday declared that he will call time on his 14-year-old international cricket career at the end of his team's campaign in the ongoing ICC World Twenty20.Watson's decision to retire caught many off-guard at the I S Bindra Stadium in Mohali. He was seen delivering an emotional speech to his teammates at the start of the practice session on the eve of Australia's must-win match against Pakistan.The 34-year-old has already retired from Test cricket.Watson, who made his international debut with an ODI against South Africa at Centurion exactly on this day 14 years ago, said he took the difficult decision after a week of pondering. In a statement, he said, he feels it is the right time to retire from all international cricket.Watson scored 3,731 runs in 59 Tests and 5,757 runs in 190 ODIs besides taking 75 and 168 wickets in the two formats respectively.In 56 T20Is so far, Watson has scored 1400 runs and grabbed 46 wickets.Watson was also a regular at the Indian Premier League. In fact at this year's auction, Watson was bought for a whopping Rs 9.5 crore by the Royal Challengers Bangalore. His last ODI appearance was in September when Australia played England at the Lord's.Watson is a World Cup wining member of the 50-over team which triumphed in 2007 and 2015.He has also played in all six World T20s and was named the player of the tournament in the 2012 edition.
News On AIR | March 24, 2016 7:19 PM
Australian all-rounder Shane Watson retires from international cricket