"At Ripe Old Age Of 39": Shane Watson, MS Dhoni Smash It In Nets Session

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have many players who are well into their 30s. Captain MS Dhoni, Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, Imran Tahir, Dwayne Bravo etc. are all into their mid-to-late 30s and some of them no longer play international cricket. However, with age becoming a miniscule factor in T20 cricket, where batsmen rely on power hitting, CSK defied the age barrier and won the Indian Premier League (IPL) title in 2018. Watson has been a star campaigner for CSK for the past two seasons and the now-retired Australian all-rounder took to social media to share a video of himself and fellow 39-year-old cricketer Dhoni, who recently retired from international cricket, smacking the leather off the ball in the nets ahead of IPL 2020. 

At the ripe old age of 39 .... just two old guys doing what we love @ChennaiIPL pic.twitter.com/GM8AQlDgS6

— Shane Watson (@ShaneRWatson33) September 13, 2020

“At the ripe old age of 39 .... just two old guys doing what we love” is how Watson captioned the video. 

Watson has 3,575 IPL runs to his credit at 31.08 and a strike rate of 139.53 with four centuries. In CSK's title-winning 2018 season, Watson scored 555 runs and struck the ball at 154.59 while batting mostly in the top order. 

The returns were diminished in the following season as he finished with 398 runs in 17 matches and a much-lower strike rate of 127.56. 

However, Watson's experience of having played in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in the UAE could be useful to CSK as many of their players have little experience of playing in the UAE. 

Dhoni, who retired from international cricket on August 15 this year, has now only one go-to place in professional cricket.  

He has flourished for CSK in the past two seasons, averaging 83.20 and 75.83 in 2019 and 2018 respectively and striking the ball at 134.62 and 150.66 respectively. 

CSK play their first match against defending champions Mumbai Indians on September 19 in Abu Dhabi. 

Topics mentioned in this article

Chennai Super Kings Shane Watson MS Dhoni IPL 2020 Cricket