After struggling to find his form in the group stage of the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opener Shane Watson rose to the occasion when it mattered the most and played a brilliant 80-run knock in the final which his team unfortunately lost by a run to Mumbai Indians.
While trying to steal an extra run in the final over of CSK's 150-run chase, Watson fell short of the crease as his team lost by a whisker at a packed Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on May 12.
Despite suffering from a knee injury, Watson continued to single-handledly fight the battle for CSK and kept them in the hunt till the dying moments of the game.
The Australian won praise from the entire cricket fraternity and he seems to be touched by the love and support of fans. The 37-year-old on Thursday posted a video on Instagram, where he can be seen thanking his fans and assuring them that he would return to CSK with a bang in 2020.
"Hello everyone, I have just arrived home and want to thank everyone for the love, support and best wishes that you've given me over the last couple of days. We were so close to going past the finish line against Mumbai but it was an amazing final," Watson said.
"I am looking forward to come back next year to take that one step further. Thanks again, everyone for all the support. WhistlePodu!" he added.
Speaking after the final, CSK skipper M.S. Dhoni had said it was a game where both the teams made a lot of mistakes, and kept "passing the trophy to each other".
"As a team, we had a good season," Dhoni said at the post-match presentation. "But I think we need to go back and reflect as to how we reached the finals, and I don't think it was one of those years where we played very good cricket and we got into the finals. I think there was plenty that could have been done from our side, especially in the middle-order batting, it never really clicked for us from the start, but somehow we were able to manage."
He said if it was funny how both the teams kept on passing the trophy from one team to the other in the summit clash.
"And looking at it as an IPL final, I think both the teams, it was quite funny: we were just passing the trophy to each other. We committed a lot of mistakes, and Mumbai Indians also did the same. At the end of the day the winning team was the one that committed one mistake less than the other team," said Dhoni.
