Shane Watson will go down in Australian cricket history as one of the best all-rounders to have come out of the country. His performances, in limited overs cricket, came at a time when Australia were at the peak of their success.
He was an integral part of the team that went through a period of transition after the legends retired and then joined the new crop to become a world champion as Australia won the 50-over World Cup for the fifth time in 2015, this time in their own backyard.
Watson achieved most of his international success under the captaincy of Ricky Ponting who he thinks could get the best out of him. But Ponting alone isn’t the best captain that he played under, according to the all-rounder himself.
“Ricky Ponting knew how to get the best out of me for sure. He was phenomenal. I think I was very fortunate to play under some very good captains. Shane Warne, I played under him at Rajasthan Royals for four years, he was a phenomenal captain. Tactically on and off the field. On the field from a man management point of view he was excellent.
So, for me Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne were the best captains I played under. They just knew how to pull the right strings to elevate my performance and that was very special,” Watson said on a podcast with cricket.com.au.
Shane Warne is the highest wicket taker for Australia in international cricket, across formats, and Ponting is the highest run-getter. The duo played together for Australia during their most successful era and Watson felt both were tactically ver sound
“Tactically and in terms of man management they were great and they played okay,” Watson said jokingly towards the end as he summarised his answer on who is the best captain he played under.
