OTD | One of the greatest all-rounders to come from Australia Shane Watson was born in 1981

On this day, former Australia cricketer Shane Watson was born, who has taken his side to the epitome of the level with his huge success as well as guided some of the epic wins to Aussies in his career. Notably, the star cricketer has been ranked as the number one T20I batter for around 150 weeks, featuring an all-time record of consecutive weeks from October 13, 2011 to January 30, 2014. Undoubtedly, he began playing during Australia’s golden era in the early 2000s and was one of the last players from his era to retire.

Speaking about his stint in major titles, the stylish right-handed batter was part of the 2007 and 2015 ODI World Cups, where his side lifted the title. He received the player of the match award during the 2006 and 2009 Champions Trophy Finals. The swashbuckling batter went on to hammer the winning run in the 2006 tournament, while he smashed a winning six in 2009, which guided his side to win the marquee event.

The legendary cricketer has played T20 cricket for a plethora of leagues around the world. He was voted as the player of the tournament in 2008 and 2018. Notably, the dashing batter continued to play in the T20I leagues after his international retirement, which came in 2016, but he retired from all forms of the game back in 2020. Following the same, he was selected as the President of the Australian cricketer’s association.

The right-handed batter has been known as one of the most successful all-rounders in the history of international cricket, especially in the limited overs of the game. Notably, he was only one of seven cricketers to have scored over 10,000 runs and 250 scalps to his name at the end of his international career in 2016. Watson was ranked as the top T20I all-rounder in 2011 and reached a career high as the number-three batter in the world. Meanwhile, the Queensland-born cricketer has 14 centuries to his name in international cricket, which includes four Test matches, nine ODIs, and one T20I.

Also read: Former Australian bowler Alan Davidson was born in 1929