Greatest Australian ODI XI of all time

2) Shane Watson

Watson certainly gives the Aussie side a lot of balance

If Gilchrist’s selection was the easiest one to make, this selection was perhaps the toughest one. Shane Watson’s selection will surely raise quite a few eyebrows but looking at the record that Watson has, it was hard to omit him from the side and playing him in the middle order is a waste of his talent.

Watson’s closest competitors were Mark Waugh and Matthew Hayden. Waugh has an ODI average of 39.35 while Hayden has an ODI average of 43.80. Both of them have their strike rates in the seventies. Watson has an ODI average of 40.54 and a strike rate of 90.44. Though Watson has played in more batting friendly conditions than both Waugh and Hayden, his record is hard to ignore.

Add to his batting, the 168 ODI wickets that he has picked up and he becomes an extremely tough player to leave out. Simply on the basis of the balance he provides to the side and his overall record, Watson takes the place of the second opener.