Shane Watson expresses love for India and its vegetarian food culture

Shane Watson, the Australian cricket great who retired from all forms of cricket in 2020, has expressed his deep affection for India and the profound impact the country has had on his life and career. Watson, born on June 17, 1981, first visited India as a 19-year-old while attending the Cricket Academy, beginning a connection that would span more than two decades.

Watson reflected on how India has become a second home to him, particularly after the Indian Premier League began in 2008. Speaking about his experiences and the significance of celebrating India's cultural milestones, Watson highlighted the special bond he shares with the Indian cricket community and its people.

"It really does feel like a second home. It's an interesting thing. I was fortunate enough to have played cricket for Australia for quite a long time, but I always felt a lot more welcome in India. And whether it was because of... fortunately the IPL came along in 2008, and, that was a time where I was able to, have some really good performances at an important time in my career," Watson said as quoted by NDTV Sports.

"Whereas for me with my experience with India and the Indian cricket fans, it was never that way and that's the thing that I absolutely continue to love about the opportunity to be able to go over to India and for the first time I went over to India as a 19-year-old, when I was at the Cricket Academy, to see how India as a country has continued to evolve so quickly really in over 20 years, is I feel very fortunate to be able to see how it continues to evolve like it is," he added.

Support and appreciation from Indian cricket fans

The 2008 IPL proved to be a turning point in Watson's relationship with Indian cricket. During that inaugural tournament, Watson delivered strong performances that earned him widespread recognition. He was named Player of the Tournament after finishing as the fourth-highest run-getter with 472 runs and joint fourth-highest wicket-taker with 17 scalps, establishing himself as a key figure in the league's early success.

"But from that moment on, I really did feel a lot more support. Obviously, there's a lot more people in India who do love cricket compared to here in Australia, but I always felt that I was never really judged as much in India. It was more the support, people appreciating what I did whereas, back here in Australia, if things were going well, the support was normally good, if things weren't going so well, it was a little bit more judgmental," Watson said.

Watson's love for India's vegetarian food culture

Watson praised India's rich and flavourful vegetarian food, lightheartedly contrasting it with Australia's often bland meat-free offerings.

"The thing that I love about going to India the most, like obviously growing up here in Australia, it's all about the barbecue and I certainly love my barbecue, that's, that's what you grow up with. But the beauty of going to India is because it's predominantly a vegetarian country, it means you get to eat beautiful vegetarian food that actually tastes really nice whereas here in Australia vegetarian food most of the time it's very bland, very plain. Whereas in India, most of the time when I'm there I'll be eating vegetarian food because how good it tastes and knowing when I come back to Australia, that is absolutely not the case," he added.