Australian cricketer Shane Watson on Thursday announced that he will retire from international cricket after the ongoing ICC World Twenty20 tournament, reported PTI. The 34-year-old player had told his teammates before a practice session ahead of Australia's match against Pakistan at Mohali's IS Bindra Stadium. Watson chose to make his announcement on the anniversary of his first one-day international match, played against South Africa at Centurion, 14 years ago.

The sportsperson said he made the decision after a week of pondering. "One morning I woke up in Dharamsala to the beautiful view and I don't know what it was exactly but I knew now was the right time," he told ESPN cricinfo. "I've really enjoyed my time being back in the Australian squad. But it is quite different, none of the other guys I played with growing up are here any more. I've made the right decision. I couldn't really see the light with the all the injuries I had." He is the only player in the current team who has played with the likes of long retired Australian greats Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist. He retired from Test cricket after last year's Ashes tour of England, and he has not played ODIs since September 2015.

During his career, the Australian all-rounder has scored 3,731 runs in 59 Tests and 5,757 runs in 190 one-day internationals, besides taking 75 and 168 wickets in the two formats. He holds the Australian record for the highest ODI scrore of 185 against Bangladesh in 2011. Watson has played 56 T20s so far, in which he has scored 1,400 runs and grabbed 46 wickets. He is also one of only seven men in history to have achieved the double of 10,000 runs and 250 wickets in international cricket across all three formats. In the twilight of his career, he mostly played T20s and was also a regular at the Indian Premier League. This year, he was bought for a whopping Rs 9.5 crore by the Royal Challengers Bangalore. He has also played in all six World T20s and was named the player of the tournament in the 2012 edition.