Have to thank MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming for keeping faith in me, states Shane Watson

Have to thank MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming for keeping faith in me, states Shane Watson

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BCCI

CSK’s Shane Watson has admitted that he is grateful to both skipper and head coach MS Dhoni for keeping the faith in him after his failures towards the start of the season. Watson also added that he would have been dropped following the first few games if it was any other franchise.

A bad run towards the start of IPL 2019 - consisting of ten consecutive poor outings -  put Shane Watson's place in the team in doubt, especially in the mind of the fans. However, it did not change the management’s stance on the all-rounder, who continued to be the first name on the list. Eventually, it nearly paid off for the franchise in the final where Watson almost scored a match-winning inning of 80 runs against Mumbai Indians. Following that, the Australian all-rounder thanked the duo of Dhoni and Fleming for keeping the faith in him.

"Every other franchise would have been 'You are gone. Thank you for coming, but you are sitting and you are running the drinks.' And then when things turned around, which I knew it would at some stage, I thanked MS and Fleming for keeping the faith, and they said there was never any doubt," Watson said, reported TOI. 

The Australian further added that in any other franchise, he would have been clearly dropped following the poor outings early on in the season, despite hitting the ball out of the blade’s middle part. The 38-year-old further was expected to be a part of the playing XI for the franchise in the 2020 season before the widespread COVID-19 halted the start of the tournament. 

"Through that period, unfortunately I felt like I was batting well but I was just not scoring runs and that kept going on and on. At some stage I was feeling after a couple of games that they are going to have to move me on, but they didn't," said Watson.

"And that's phenomenal. That made me feel 10-foot tall. That's the power of amazing leadership. To know when to stick with people you believe in, and that's amazing for me. And I am forever indebted to those guys."

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