IPL News: Harbhajan says Watson played IPL 2019 final with an injury
What's the story?
Shane Watson almost took Chennai Super Kings to their fourth IPL title by scoring a wonderful half-century. A day after his previous franchise Mumbai Indians defeated Chennai, CSK's veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh revealed that Watson batted with an injury during the IPL final.
In case you didn't know...
On Sunday, three-time champions Chennai Super Kings made it to their eighth final in eleven seasons but were beaten by the Mumbai Indians, who clinched their fourth IPL title. Of the four title clashes between these two sides, the Chennai based franchise has tasted victory only once.
Heart of the matter
The Chennai Super Kings came agonisingly close to victory but a superb slow ball by Lasith Malinga helped Mumbai Indians win the match by 1 run. After the Mumbai side posted a target of 150, most CSK batsmen failed to deliver on the big occasion.
Shane Watson, who was the only Chennai batsman to score in excess of 30, scored a 59-ball 80 to take his close to victory but his run-out in the final brought MI back into the game.
A day after the match, Harbhajan Singh on his Instagram revealed that Watson played in the final with a bleeding knee. The message in the insta-story read "Can you guys see the blood on his knee.. he got 6 stitches after the game.. got injuured while diving but continue(d) to bat without telling anyone." He also added "That's out Shane Watson. Almost pulled it for us last night."
What's next?
Shane Watson, who retired from international cricket in 2016 as the World No.1 ODI allrounder, has been plying his trade across various T20 leagues in different parts of the world. Last month, the star Australian all-rounder announced that his BBL retirement in order to manage his workload better.
After a terrific performance for CSK in the 2019 final, Chennai fans will hope that the world-class Australian cricketer will return for the next season of IPL.