Watto - the Swashbuckling Australian All-rounder turns 34

Watto – the Swashbuckling Australian All-rounder turns 34: Every day coming seems to be turning up in with plesantries for Shane Watson. Very recently Watto’s wife gave birth to their second child and the father is celebrating his 34th birthday today. It was just in the last week that Australia beat West Indies in the test series 2-0; and Watson must be partying with the boys right now celebrating the series win along with his birthday. The swashbuckling all-rounder from Australia has been an integral part of team’s success and had a role to play in the 2015 world cup winning side. Watto is a power hitting batsman with a phenomenal strike rate of 90 in ODI’s. When in the mood he is capable of demoralizing any bowler and knows to multiply the team score in the rapidly. Shane Watson’s illustrious career was earlier threatened due to his recurring injuries that didn’t seem to leave him alone. He is a well built, strong and a muscular lad, but despite possessing a strong figure and a frame that many would envy, he has struggled a bit with his fitness quite regularly with nagging hamstring problems and calf sprains. The injuries broke him physically but not mentally, Watto with this never say die attitude made a lot of sacrifices and amendments to his training programme in order to beat the injuries. He gave up alcohol, preferred pilates to weights and made several other adaptations. He overcame all impediments and he now averages over 40 in ODI’s and is considered a tailor made batsman in the limited overs format. Watson came in to the fore initially as an opener but has now been promoted lower down the order. Shane Watson has the record of having hit the most sixes in a single ODI match as he thwacked fifteen humongous sixes against Bangladesh in April 2011. The all-rounder though an aggressive batter, but is not a blind slogger with the bat. He has 9 ODI tons and 7 of them have been in winning causes. That speaks volumes of how his innings have a bearing on the result of the match. He was the Australian ODI player of the year for three consecutive years- 2010, 2011 and 2012. With the ball, Watto is an excellent swing bowler, who knows his strengths, limitations and also possesses a lethal short pitched delivery in his armory. Not many manage to perform consistently both with the bat and ball but Watson has managed repeat it on a consistent basis stamping his reputation as an indispensable all-rounder for Australia. Watson is an excellent T20 player as well and has been roped in the Rajasthan Royals as the skipper of the side for his overall skills. He boasts of 2 IPL hundreds, a testimony to his flair with the bat in the shortest format. The Queensland native was woefully out of form going into the ICC cricket world cup 2015 but he withstood the pressure and resurrected himself when it mattered. Australia were crowned world champions and it was another feather added to Shane Watson’s cap in his decade long illustrious career. CricTracker wishes Shane Watson, the world champion a very happy birthday!

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Watto - the Swashbuckling Australian All-rounder turns 34

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