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#1 Shane Watson
The first edition of IPL will be truly cherished by Shane Watson for a long period to come. After being an irregular member of Australia squad for a prolonged period, Watson was presented the opportunity of playing for Rajasthan Royals in 2008 and boy didn't he grab it with both hands.
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The Aussie all-rounder took charge as the lead of the batting department as he beat the pulp out of the oppositions' bowling attacks. Watson made 472 runs from 15 games at a remarkable strike rate of 151.72. Apart from his superlative knocks with the willow, he proved to be Shane Warne's go-to man with the ball as well. Watson chipped in with wickets (17 in the season) in tricky situations and pulled his team over the line on multiple occasions.
His heroics in leading the franchise lift the 2008 title, soon resulted in a comeback to the national squad, as a replacement to an injured Matthew Hayden, on Australia's tour to the West Indies. Watson established himself as a bankable opener and eventually, went on to shoulder Australia's top order in all the three formats of the game.
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