Shane Watson still good enough to play for Australia, reckons Marcus Stoinis

Kane Williamson’s team put up a competitive total of 178/6 after 20 overs leaving Dhoni’s side to chase a target of 179. Despite getting off to a rather slow start and losing his opening partner Faf du Plessis early on in the innings, Shane Watson turned back the clock with a match winning unbeaten knock of 117 off 57 balls to lead the boys in yellow to the IPL trophy on the their return to the tournament after a ban of two years.

KXIP player and Australian international, Marcus Stoinis, opined that his compatriot still had it in him to play for the present Australian senior team if he wanted to.

"He's still good enough to play for Australia, for sure, (But) I think he enjoys having family time. He played a lot of cricket for Australia in a demanding time, so I think he's just enjoying playing the odd tournament and then going back (to his family)," Stoinis told RSN, as reported by cricket.com.au.

Watson’s knock of 117, was his second ton of the tournament after he previously hit a century against former team Rajasthan Royals during the group stage matches. Stoinis added that Watson was highly underrated during his time with the Australian national team while also praising the latter for mentoring him over the years.

"We sat down over there (in India) and he's mentored me for a couple of years now. His hunger to keep getting better at the end of his career, it's no coincidence why he's so good.

"I don't think the Australian public realised how good he was when he was playing for Australia," added Stoinis.