Shane Watson scored 555 runs in CSK’s 2018 IPL winning campaign.© Chennai Super Kings / Twitter
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has many players who are over 30 years old. Captain MS Dhoni, Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, Imran Tahir, Dwayne Bravo etc. are in their mid to late 30s and some of them no longer play international cricket. However, with age becoming a miniscule factor in T20 cricket, where batsmen rely on the power stroke, CSK defied the age barrier and won the Indian Premier League (IPL) title in 2018. Watson has been a star defender for CSK for the past two seasons. And the now-retired Australian off-roader took to social media to share a video of himself and his 39-year-old cricketer Dhoni, who recently retired from international cricket, hitting the ball on the net ahead of the IPL. 2020.
At the ripe age of 39 … just two old men doing what we love @ChennaiIPL pic.twitter.com/GM8AQlDgS6
– Shane Watson (@ ShaneRWatson33) September 13, 2020
“At the ripe age of 39 … just two old men doing what we love,” Watson captioned the video.
Watson has 3,575 IPL runs to his credit at 31.08 and a strike rate of 139.53 with four centuries. In CSK’s title-winning 2018 season, Watson scored 555 runs and hit the ball at 154.59 while batting primarily in the higher order.
Returns were reduced the following season as he finished with 398 runs in 17 games and a much lower hit rate of 127.56.
However, Watson’s experience of having played in the Pakistani Super League (PSL) in the UAE could be helpful for CSK as many of their players have little experience playing in the UAE.
Dhoni, who retired from international cricket on August 15 this year, now has only one place in professional cricket.
Promoted
He has thrived for CSK in the past two seasons, averaging 83.20 and 75.83 in 2019 and 2018 respectively and hitting the ball at 134.62 and 150.66 respectively.
CSK will play its first game against the defending champions Mumbai Indians on September 19 in Abu Dhabi.
Topics mentioned in this article
.
