IPL 2020: Shane Watson finds form at right time to resurrect Chennai Super Kings' season

After the 2018 IPL final, Shane Watson spent most of the night and early morning alongside MS Dhoni just chatting away. There was no wild celebration, just two veterans enjoying Chennai Super Kings victorious campaign with a few close family and friends in the comfort of a hotel room. A strong bond has been established between two men who were both in the twilight of their respective careers. Importantly, Dhoni had established trust, belief and confidence in the Australian all-rounder. Last season, despite Watson unable to conjure a half-century from eight matches, Dhoni backed his pal to come good. It eventually happened in the ninth match with Watson striking 96 from 53 balls to lead the CSK to victory. At the end of the match, Watson stated,“I can’t thank MS Dhoni enough for their belief in me. Most of the teams I’ve played in, I would have been dropped by now, but they showed the trust in me.” Fast forward to 2020, Chennai had lost three consecutive matches for the first time since 2014. One of the reasons for their failure was Watson. The 39-year-old had started the tournament with scores that read 4, 33, 14 and 1. Questions regarding Watson’s form and CSK were just starting to surface – Was Watson still good enough at 39? Is the CSK team too old? Should CSK start to breed some youngsters? On Sunday night, Watson put all those theories aside as he played an unbeaten knock of 83 from 53 balls as the CSK crushed Kings XI Punjab by 10 wickets. Watson and Faf Du Plessis, another aging warrior, added 181 for the opening stand and eliminated the speculation that the CSK were no longer a force. No doubt Watson and Du Plessis are experienced, but even the old heads need self-assurance at times. That night in the Mumbai hotel room in 2018, Watson had gained that assertion from Dhoni and he knew the lack of runs were largely due to a technical glitch rather than a mental block. At the end of the match, Watson explained the change in his form was due to technical aspect in his batting. “Felt something slightly off earlier in the tournament, technical thing. A bit more intent on the front leg, getting my weight through the ball.” he explained. [caption id=“attachment_8880251” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Shane Watson celebrates after scoring a fifty against Kings XI Punjab. Sportzpics[/caption] Right from his younger days in Ipswich, outside of Brisbane, Watson had built a reputation on hitting the ball hard, down the ground, with a full face of the bat. These principles of his batting came into fruition last night. In their previous four matches, CSK’s starts had been circumspect. On Sunday, the Aussie went on attack mode from the outset as CSK raced to 60 for no loss, their best powerplay score in this IPL. Watson lofted the fourth ball straight down the ground for a boundary. He did it again in the third and the fourth over. Five times he hit the ball over the top of the inner ring in the powerplay. This was Watson at his best. He was batting with intent and hitting the ball in his favourite areas of the ground. Watson played risk-free cricket against Mohammad Shami before feasting on the second tier bowlers. This was classic Watson, building momentum during the powerplay and then batting in cruise control during the middle phase of the innings. The fact that Du Plessis kept hitting the odd boundary and rotating the strike certainly allowed him to ease into his work. Three years ago, IPL franchises were using Watson as a floater in the batting order and detaching him from his strength. But ever since Watson arrived at CSK, he was allowed to bat in a position that he has always thrived. Dhoni knew from the outset that if Watson had to be a regular performer, he had to bat him in a role he was most comfortable in. This was the understanding and camaraderie that is often underestimated in cricket or any sport. Listen to Watson’s podcast ‘Lessons learnt from the greats’ and one understands how much time he has spent tinkering his technique for power hitting. His close friend and teammate, Mike Hussey is bound to have worked countless hours with him in the nets ahead of the Kings XI match to ensure he rectified his flaws. But the minute Dhoni, Hussey and coach Stephen Fleming saw Watson getting his weight down the pitch and smashing the ball over the top in the first couple of overs, they would have realised that he’s back to his best. CSK needed such an innings to resurrect their season and as did Watson. There was that mutual unity again. But perhaps the best accolade about Watson’s belligerent innings came from his captain. “It was just a matter of time,” said Dhoni.