Unfairly mocked and maligned, Shane Watson will be missed from international cricket

Watson acrobatically catches Yuvraj to keep Australia alive in his final outing.

It was quite typical that after Shane Watson’s last international match he was totally forgotten. Watson starred with a monster all-round performance against India in Mohali but, of course, it is likely to be a footnote of the match, which will be forever remembered for Virat Kohli producing one of the greatest everT20 innings.

What is likely to be overlooked, quite conveniently for his horde of detractors, is Watson’s virtuoso effort in trying to drag Australia to victory in a determined bid to keep their World T20 dreams alive. Watson made a late cameo with the bat scoring an unbeaten 18 but he made a real impact in the field as Australia tried valiantly to defend a seemingly mediocre 161.
Watson,whose nagging and accurate medium pacers have been underrated throughout the years, relished the slowness of the wearing pitch and bowled superbly with figures of 2-23 from 4 overs, including picking up dangerous Indian batsmen Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina. India’s vaunted batsmen were unable to counterattack Watson’s slew of accurate yorkers and full deliveries.
Watson’s stunning swansong was highlighted by a spectacular diving one-handed catch to dismiss Yuvraj Singh at a moment when Australia seemed headed for a memorable upset.
What was most impressive, however, was Watson’s passion and determination to fight for his team. He celebrated with gusto when he claimed the wickets, and you knew it was genuine emotion not just manufactured. Watson was giving his all. When he first entered international cricket to much fanfare in the early 2000s, Watson could dangerously bowl at speeds around 140kmh. A succession of injuries throughout the years curtailed that speed, as Watson eventually found his niche as a backup bowler capable of producing consistent medium pacers around the 130kmhmark.
But, in what turned out to be his last match for Australia, Watson bent his back and hit the pitch hard. He bowled close to 140kmh, in a sure sign that he wasn’t going to leave anything on the table.
Still, despite his indefatigable efforts, it amounted to naught. Australia lost, and Watson is unlikely to have changed his dubious perception.
Unlike in India where he is beloved after numerously starring in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the 34-year-old does not evoke similar sentiments from his compatriots.
Watson has long been a punching bag. He’s probably been the most ridiculed Australian cricketer since the boon of social media. He’s been a walking punchline who has been low-picking fruit for all and sundry.
Of course,Watson isn’t blameless. His temperamental and dubious public perception was shaped because of his penchant to look crestfallen every time things went badly for him, and exacerbated by the lunacy of his repeated DRS referrals even when he looked plumb.
Watson wore his heart on his sleeve. Whether it was being dismissed, getting hit for a boundary, or something else that didn’t go to plan, Watson’s frustrations were painstakingly etched on his face.
It was easy to paint him as a prima donna; a childish figure who could never harness his obvious all-round talents. Watson’s lampooning was compounded by the fact that he was a chronic underachiever in Test cricket, the format Australians judge their cricketers.
However,what, gets easily overlooked is that Watson has been one of the very best all-rounders in modern cricket, no matter how you spin it.  He never quite lived up to the billing in Test cricket but he was undoubtedly a superstar in the shorter formats, and when combining his performances across the board, Watson’s 14-yearinternational career hasn’t been surpassed by many. He may not have rivalledJacques Kallis, but Watson was pretty exceptional. Certainly no Australian all-rounder comes close to him in recent times.
Watson will always be remembered as a player who underwhelmed; a maligned and somewhat tragic figure. Now unshackled from these burdens and suffocating expectations, Watson is set for an enjoyable, and highly lucrative, post-international career on cricket’s T20 carnival as an expensive gun for hire.
Australian fans may not feel much sadness over Watson’s retirement right now. But, certainly for the shorter formats, those sentiments might quickly change because, undeniably, Watson will be a difficult player to replace, as testament to him being Australia’s most reliable bowler at the World T20 and their only batsman who was truly able to be ‘flexible’ as per the team’s mantra.
It is truly a shame that, ironically, Watson will likely be belatedly appreciated when he is long gone form international cricket.

Truth be told, what should never be forgotten is that he was an Australian stalwart who has been misjudged all these years.  source:cricket.yahoo