5 IPL greats who are at the fag end of their careers

#3 Shane Watson

Watson has struggled against the spinners

Shane Watson was a forgotten name in Australian cricket till 2008. His initial playing years were plagued with injuries and he wasn't in the selectors' scheme of things. But it all changed for Watson after his IPL exploits in 2008. He had a spectacular debut season for Rajasthan Royals and ended as the Man-of-the-series of the tournament.

The Australian all-rounder continued his good run in the IPL in the following seasons and replaced Shane Warne as the captain of the side. But unfortunately, Rajasthan Royals was suspended for two years in 2015 and Shane Watson was up for grabs for the other IPL teams. RCB bought Watson in the 2016 auction owing to his all-round abilities and strong IPL record. However, Watson wasn't able to repeat his brilliance for RCB. In 2016, he scored 134 runs at an average of 13.75 which was not what the team management expected from a player of Watson's stature. However, his bowling came to his rescue as he took 20 wickets in the season.

The following year, things just got worse. Watson took only 5 wickets and scored a paltry total of 71 runs in 8 matches. After having two middling seasons with the franchise, he wasn't retained in the 2018 auction.

Even though CSK has shown faith in Watson, he must know that overseas players cannot afford to have an average season.