Shane Watson: From IPL to ICC WT20 2012

By Jawad Hussain

Shane Watson: ICC World Twenty20 2012 Player of the Tournament

KARACHI, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) October 9, 2012: Australian all-rounder Shane Watson emerged as the only Australian player to impress the cricketing world during the recently concluded ICC World Twenty20 2012 as he outshone the rest of the cricketing excellences to bag the World Twenty20 Player of the Tournament.

Australia cricket team stayed in the hunt for their maiden World Twenty20 title until Semi-Final when Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard smashed their dreams with a flurry of boundaries and sixes.

However, the premier worry for the Kangaroos was not the extraordinary performances by Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard but none of their cricketers supporting Shane Watson in his efforts to bring the T20 glory to Australia.

Australia came into this tournament at an all-time lowest rank in the ICC Twenty20 Rankings of ninth and were defeated rather comfortably by Pakistan in their three-match Twenty20 series by 2-1 with Australia only managing to win the dead-rubber third match after a Super Over separated the two sides in the second Twenty20.

Australia, who have a rather unknown international player as their T20 skipper, needed some mammoth efforts from their star players including David Warner, Mike Hussey, David Hussey, Cameron White, and skipper George Bailey to make it a winning campaign for the Kangaroos.

However, it was Shane Watson who kept his international reputation in tact with some of the masterful performances during the ICC World Twenty20 2012 as he won four straight Man-of-the-Match awards breaking a world record held previously by Shahid Afridi and Sanath Jayasuriya.

During the course of ICC World Twenty20 2012, Shane Watson proved his worth in the Australian side by scoring as many as 249 runs at an average of 49.80 runs per innings which also included three half centuries.

Living up to his stature as a world-class all-rounder, Shane Watson also proved his mettle with the ball as he captured 11 wickets at strike rate of 16.00. He was the second best bowler in the tournament following Sri Lankan orthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis who took 15 wickets at 9.80.

Shane Watson has come of age in the last four to five years as he has not only anchored Australia to victories in One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals but he has also played some crucial roles in Test cricket which speaks for his quality and influence at international cricket.

Many of the cricketing experts were left scratching their heads when the Cricket Australia announced George Bailey as Twenty20 skipper ahead of Shane Watson as the all-rounder always looked an automatic choice for the job but after this shameful exit the Australian cricketing authorities should consider him for the top post.

George Bailey was a complete failure as skipper as he was never there to impose his authority on the opposition when his team needed his services the most. He mostly relied on Mike Hussey and Shane Watson for the mammoth performances rather than raising his game and captaincy intellect.

George Bailey, for some reasons unknown to many of us, kept David Hussey out of the side thus making him short of match practice and then he was recalled in the side for the massive semi-final game on a pitch which needed a lot of practice against quality spinners.

Shane Watson has a great aggressive attitude that makes him perfect for any brand of cricket and after such a leading role in Australian surge at the ICC World Twenty20, the Cricket Australia should award him with the responsibilities of leading the team at least in the Twenty20.

This is the second such a Twenty20 tournament where Shane Watson has won the Player of the Tournament award. The last time when Shane Watson achieved the feat was at the inaugural version of the Indian Premier League where he helped the Rajasthan Royals to the title in India but he also needed other players like Sohail Tanvir, Shane Warne, and Kamran Akmal to complete the title victory. On this occasion, he lacked support from his team-mates which eventually dented Australian chances and they had to content with a top-four finish rather than getting their hands on the title.

From IPL to World Twenty20, Shane Watson has emerged as the best Twenty20 player in the world and time is right for the Australian cricket authorities to trust on his abilities and give him the task to bring out the best from his team as a leader.