From an injury-ravaged struggler to being the hero of Australia's second consecutive Champions Trophy triumph, all-rounder Shane Watson has credited the turnaround to his Indian Premier League stint under talismanic spin wizard Shane Warne.
Shane Watson's all-round performance powered Australia to an easy seven-wicket victory over Ireland in their opening Group B match of the Twenty20 World Cup on Wednesday.
Shane Watson won the Allan Border Medal as the outstanding Australian cricketer of the season for the second year in a row on Monday. Watson was also named player of the year for Tests and one-day internationals at a gala ceremony at a Melbourne casino while David Hussey prevented a clean sweep by winning the Twenty20 award.
After being treated to some wonderful stroke-play by Shane Watson, which saw the opener etch his name in the record books, Mike Hussey believes that the batsman has the potential to go even further.
Australia have rested all rounder Shane Watson and quick bowler Ben Hilfenhaus and dropped batsman Peter Forrest from their squad to play a three-match One-day series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates starting next month.
Australia vice-captain Shane Watson's chances of playing in the four-Test series against India are quite bleak, as the all-rounder's recovery from a hamstring and calf injury is slower than expected.
Humility is a virtue that champion sportspersons are blessed with and Australian all-rounder Shane Watson is no different as he sees himself "nowhere" when compared to South African great Jacques Kallis.
IMAGES from the Indian Premier League match played between CSK and Rajasthan Royals in Pune on Friday.
Rajasthan Royals outplayed Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets in their Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad, thereby registering their fifth straight win of the season.
The Australian all-rounder will be given more time to prove his fitness to play in the first Test against England.
Australia face a selection quandary with the return from injury of all-rounder Shane Watson for the second Test against South Africa, which starts on Thursday.
Shane Watson scored a lot of runs at a torrid pace and took a lot of wickets with a reasonable economy rate. It is, therefore, no surprise that the Australian all-rounder was the most valuable player (MVP) in the recently-concluded ICC World T20 in Sri Lanka.
Injury-prone all-rounder Shane Watson has been ruled out of Australia's one-day tour of Zimbabwe after standing on a ball and twisting his ankle at training in Brisbane on Saturday.
Images of the World Twenty20 match between Australia and Ireland.
Australia captain Michael Clarke has confirmed his deputy Shane Watson will continue to open the batting in South Africa, despite media reports claiming the all-rounder was contemplating a move down the order to revive his form.
All-rounder Shane Watson has credited coach Darren Lehmann for bringing the fun factor back to the Australian dressing room and allowing the team to enjoy playing cricket once more in the 5-0 Ashes series thrashing of England.
Images from the World Twenty20 Super Eight match between Australia and India at the R Premadasa stadium in Colombo on Friday.
Openers Shane Watson and Simon Katich gave Australia a bright start to their first innings in the second Test against the West Indies at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday as they closed play on 174-0, trailing by 277 runs.
Shane Watson will captain Australia in the fourth and final Test against India in Delhi on Friday after Michael Clarke was withdrawn from the match with a back injury.
'This month that he's had off cricket will make sure that that light's shining very bright going into this Asia Cup, knowing there's a T20 World Cup in Australia coming up very soon as well.'
'If there had been 10 teams in IPL 1, 2 or 3 the talent pool would have been stretched thin but now the depth in Indian cricket alone means you have seven world class players as the local Indian player and the overseas players complement them.'
There is still one match to go in the India-Australia One-Day International series but Shane Watson is almost certain to be chosen the player of the series. Watson has already done enough, having scored 256 runs so far at a strike rate of over 90 and taken 10 wickets with a reasonable economy rate of 5.60.
Shane Watson proved an inspired choice on Wednesday as Australia's fourth bowler with his first five wicket haul in Test cricket leading to a unique spot on the Lord's honours' boards.
Australia made a confident start in the third Ashes Test against England as Shane Watson's unbeaten fifty lifted them to 126 for one on a rain-disrupted first day on Thursday.
Mitchell Johnson grabbed a career-best 6-31 and Shane Watson smashed a brisk 69 to guide Australia to a seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first One-dayer in Pallekele.
'Have a feeling this is the last time we are seeing Rohit in Mumbai Indians jersey.'
Pakistani pacer Mohammad Asif called Australian all-rounder Shane Watson a 'bloody white' during the team's tour Down Under and got away with it, according to the then team manager Abdul Raquib.
The New South Wales coach Anthony Stuart has revealed that it is under Cricket Australia's instructions that Shane Watson's bowling is being used sparingly in the Champions League T20.
Australian all-rounder Shane Watson on Wednesday blamed the International Cricket Council for the 'spot-fixing' scandal that has rocked the game, saying the world body's anti-corruption unit is "not really working".
In form Australian all-rounder Shane Watson has identified master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, stylish Sri Lanka batsman Mahela Jayawardene and West Indies batsman Kieron Pollard to make the biggest impact in the 2011 World Cup.
After guiding Australia to a 3-0 whitewash over Bangladesh, Shane Watson and Brett Lee will be in action for Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively when the teams clash in the IPL on Friday.
Shane Watson did the star turn as Rajasthan Royals stormed into the final of the Indian Premier League, beating Delhi Daredevils by 105 runs in the first semi-final at the Wankhede stadium on Friday. The Australia all-rounder first hit a breezy 52 as Rajasthan Royals put up a challenging 192 for 9 in their allotted 20 overs and then destroyed the Delhi top order. He finished with figures of 3 for 10 in three overs as Delhi were dismissed for a paltry 87 in 16.2 overs.
Finch suffered the injury while batting during the team's 27-run loss at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which saw India take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Moises Henriques will replace injured all-rounder Shane Watson in the Australia squad for Friday's tri-series match against England, Cricket Australia has confirmed.
Shane Watson's return to Test cricket during the upcoming four-Test series against India will be tough as he faces competition from a bigger pool of players by deciding to play solely as a batsman rather than an all-rounder, Australian skipper Michael Clarke said.
With the four-Test series against India around the corner, Shane Watson will look to touch up his batting skills at international level following his inclusion in Australia's 13-member One-Day side for the next two matches against the West Indies.
Sacked all-rounder Shane Watson said it was "wrong" on his part not to submit the presentation to the coach, but the "harsh" punishment for such a protocol breach is hard to accept.
Chennai Super Kings put an end to their poor run after registering a massive 10-wicket win against Kings XI Punjab in Dubai
A belligerent 76 not out by Shane Watson helped Rajasthan Royals score their first win in the Indian Premier League match in Jaipur on Monday night.
Shane Watson has realised he can never give up bowling completely in his career after watching his teammates getting butchered by the Indian batsmen during the first Test.
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