🇦🇺 Australia
IPL 2008–2020 • 3 Franchises
🏆 2x IPL Champion
🤯 True All-Rounder
SW
Shane Watson
Right-hand Bat • Right-arm Fast-Medium • Born 17 Jun 1981, Ipswich, QLD
The original IPL all-rounder. Watson won IPL titles a decade apart — with Rajasthan in 2008 and CSK in 2018. He was named Player of the Tournament in the inaugural season, then repeated the feat in 2013. His 117* in the 2018 final, scored on a battered, bleeding knee, remains one of the great individual performances in IPL history.
3,874
Career Runs
145 matches
92
IPL Wickets
True all-rounder
2
IPL Titles
RR 2008 • CSK 2018
2
Player of Tournament
2008 & 2013 — unique feat
Career at a Glance All IPL Seasons
31.0
Batting Average
Career
137.9
Career Strike Rate
As attacking opener
117*
High Score
2018 IPL Final vs SRH
4
IPL Centuries
RR (x2), CSK (x1), PBKS era
Runs by Season 2008 – 2020
🎯 Season-by-Season Run Tally
Bar width proportional to career-best 555 (2018, CSK title & final century). DNS = did not play 2009 (international duty). Team shown alongside year.
2008 RR
🏆 PLAYER OF TOURNAMENT
472
2009 RR
DNS
2010 RR
472
2011 RR
Injury affected
265
2012 RR
418
2013 RR
🏆 PLAYER OF TOURNAMENT
481
2014 RR
Captain, below-par
248
2015 RR
104* vs KKR
372
2016 RCB
Expensive flop (Rs 9.5cr)
115
2017 RCB
Poor form continues
135
2018 CSK
🏆 555 • 117* IN FINAL
555
2019 CSK
80 in final (injured)
398
2020 CSK
Final IPL season
266
Regular season
Player of Tournament (2008 & 2013)
Career-best & IPL Final 117* (2018)
Performance vs Each Team Career Totals
🏈 Career Runs vs Each Opponent
Total runs across all IPL seasons. RR is excluded as Watson played for them.
MI
580
Most
CSK
542
KKR
468
PBKS
445
RCB
420
DC
398
SRH
362
📈 Batting Average vs Each Opponent
Runs per dismissal across all seasons.
MI
40.0
Most
CSK
38.7
PBKS
37.1
KKR
36.0
DC
35.2
SRH
32.9
RCB
30.0
⚡ Strike Rate vs Each Opponent
Runs per 100 balls. Watson was consistently one of the most aggressive openers of his era.
MI
148.0
Most
PBKS
144.0
CSK
142.0
KKR
140.0
DC
138.0
RCB
136.0
SRH
135.0
🎯 Fifty-Plus Scores vs Each Opponent
Innings of 50 or more including his 4 IPL centuries across three franchises.
MI
5
Most
CSK
4
KKR
4
PBKS
4
RCB
3
DC
3
SRH
3
IPL Records & Milestones
117*
Century in 2018 IPL Final
57 balls • Scored with a bleeding, bandaged knee
2
Player of Tournament Awards
2008 (RR) & 2013 (RR) — only player to win twice
2
IPL Titles with Different Franchises
RR 2008 & CSK 2018 — 10 years apart
92
IPL Wickets
Genuine all-rounder — not just a part-timer
555
Runs in IPL 2018
Career-best season at age 36 for CSK
30
Balls for 2013 IPL Century (vs CSK)
101 off 61 balls • his maiden IPL hundred
Career Journey Key Seasons
2008
🏆 The Inaugural Season — Player of Tournament — IPL Champion
472 runs, SR 151.7, 4 fifties. Named Player of the Tournament in the very first IPL season. Rajasthan Royals win the inaugural title as the ultimate underdogs. Watson is the centrepiece of the most unexpected title win in IPL history. Nobody else has won Player of Tournament twice — Watson does it in season one.
2009
Misses Entire Season — International Duty
Watson misses IPL 2009 due to West Indies tours and international commitments. The tournament goes to South Africa that year. He watches one of his best years go by from the sidelines. Injuries would become a recurring theme throughout his IPL career.
2013
🏆 Player of Tournament Again — Maiden IPL Century
481 runs, avg 43.7, SR 144.3. Scores maiden IPL century — 101 off 61 balls against CSK. Named Player of the Tournament for the second time — the only player in IPL history to win it twice. RR don't win the title but Watson puts on a masterclass all season.
2015
104* vs KKR — Final Season for RR
372 runs including a 104* against KKR. RR's last season before their two-year ban. Watson is released and enters the auction for the first time since 2008 — triggering a massive bidding war.
2016
Rs 9.5 Crore at RCB — Total Disaster
RCB pay Rs 9.5 crore (the highest for any Australian in the auction). He returns 115 runs at avg 13.2 across 9 matches — one of the worst returns for a premium-priced player in IPL history. 2017 is barely better with 135 runs. Watson himself later admitted it was the worst chapter of his IPL career.
2018
🔥 The Greatest Final Innings — 117* — CSK Champions
CSK sign him. 555 runs, avg 50.5 — his career-best season at age 36. Then the IPL final vs SRH: Watson bats with a bleeding, bandaged knee after being hit by a bouncer. He scores 117* off 57 balls, single-handedly winning CSK the title. Three stitches applied at drinks. He bowled after. The ultimate big-match performance.
2019
80 in the Final — CSK Lose by 1 Run to MI
398 runs in the regular season. In the final against MI, Watson scores 80 in a classic final that CSK lose by just one run — one of the great finishes in IPL history. He retires from all cricket in November 2020 after his final IPL season with CSK.
Did You Know?
During the 2018 IPL final against SRH, Watson was hit by a bouncer that opened a cut above his knee requiring stitches. Play was stopped. He had the cut bandaged, returned to the crease, and proceeded to score 117* off 57 balls to win CSK the title. Then went on to bowl.
Watson is the only player to win IPL Player of the Tournament twice — in 2008 with Rajasthan Royals and again in 2013. He also won IPL titles a decade apart with two different franchises: RR in 2008 and CSK in 2018 — one of the rarest feats in IPL history.
RCB paid Rs 9.5 crore for Watson in 2016 — the most for any Australian at auction that year. He scored just 115 runs in 9 matches at avg 13. The two RCB seasons (2016–17) produced just 250 runs. Watson later called it the worst phase of his IPL career.
Watson took 92 IPL wickets with his right-arm fast-medium bowling — making him one of the few genuine batting all-rounders in IPL history. In 2008 alone he took multiple three-wicket hauls for RR, and his bowling was as crucial as his batting in the title win.
Watson played in two of the most dramatic IPL finals ever: he won it with 117* for CSK in 2018, and lost it with 80 for CSK to MI in 2019 — a match MI won by just one run. He appeared in back-to-back finals and was the top scorer in both.
Watson is the first Australian to score international centuries in all three formats — Tests, ODIs, and T20Is. He was ranked No. 1 T20I all-rounder in the world for 150 consecutive weeks, including a record 120-week unbroken run from October 2011 to January 2014.