Shane Watson

The arrival

Shane Watson arrived through the auction: Rajasthan Royals paid ₹50 lakh (US$125k), at the very first IPL auction.

That first season brought 15 matches, 472 runs and 17 wickets at 6.96 an over, and ended with Rajasthan Royals as champions.

The peak

The high point with the bat was 2018, for Chennai Super Kings: 555 runs at an average of 39.6, striking at 154.6 in a season when the league as a whole struck at 138.1, with 2 hundreds and 2 fifties, and a highest score of 117 not out. Chennai Super Kings won the title that year. There were three seasons of 400 runs or more in all (2008, 2013 and 2018).

Measured against the league around it, though, the most destructive season was 2010: 185 runs at a strike rate of 162.3, 35 runs per hundred balls quicker than the IPL as a whole that year.

With the ball, the best season was 2016, for Royal Challengers Bangalore: 20 wickets at 8.56 runs an over, while the league's bowlers went for 8.15, with best figures of 4 for 29. Two seasons brought 15 wickets or more (2008 and 2016).

Franchise by franchise

2008 to 2015, Rajasthan Royals. Bought at the 2008 auction for ₹50 lakh. 78 matches, 2,378 runs and 61 wickets; champions in 2008.

2016 to 2017, Royal Challengers Bangalore. Bought at the 2016 auction for ₹9.50 cr. 24 matches, 250 runs and 25 wickets.

2018 to 2020, Chennai Super Kings. Bought at the 2018 auction for ₹4 cr. 43 matches, 1,252 runs and 6 wickets; champions in 2018.

3 spells with three franchises in all. The longest was with Rajasthan Royals, 2008 to 2015. 2009 is missing from the record: a season without an IPL appearance.

Bat, ball and method

Across the career, Shane Watson struck at 137.9. The league around those same seasons, weighted by how much batting each one involved, struck at 129.4, so Shane Watson scored about 9 runs per hundred balls faster than the typical batter of the time. 68% of the runs came in fours and sixes: 377 fours and 190 sixes.

The ball-by-ball record adds the detail. 41.4% of the balls Shane Watson faced were dot balls, a higher share than 83% of the 140 batters who have faced 500 balls or more in the IPL. A six came every 14.8 balls, and a four every 7.5.

With the ball, 92 wickets in 2,042 deliveries, at 7.88 runs an over against a league rate of 7.96 for the same seasons, right on the going rate. There was one four-wicket haul, and the best figures were 4 for 29.

39.6% of the balls Shane Watson bowled were dots, a higher share than 79% of the 150 bowlers with 500 balls or more; a wicket came every 22.1 balls.

The fielding record: 38 catches and 9 run-outs.

At the auction

Shane Watson went under the hammer three times. The highest price was ₹9.50 cr, paid by Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2016, more than 4 times the base price. The price climbed with the reputation: ₹50 lakh in 2008, ₹4 cr by 2018.

Seasons without an auction entry were played under a retention, a trade or a signing made outside the auction.

The legacy

On the all-time IPL lists, among 810 players, Shane Watson finished 22nd for runs, 13th for sixes and 10th for player-of-the-match awards.