Big Bash League: Shane Watson sends timely reminder to IPL franchises, Australia

New Delhi: Australia outcast Shane Watson stamped his authority in Sydney Thunder's win against Sydney Sixers in the ongoing Big Bash League on Saturday.

Watson cracked a superb 66 to propel his side to a mammoth 202/5 in 20 overs. The Sixers lost the game eventually by 46 runs after coming out to chase.

Watson had earlier scored a well made 62 runs against Melbourne Renegades in the earlier game and his form has come in the right time for his side. Sydney Thunder have a chance to appear in their maiden final at the BBL and Watson showed once again why he is still a big match player.

Watson was dropped by Australia for their ODI series against India and the senior all-rounder sent a timely reminder to the selectors to showcase his importance once again.

Shane Watson who was amongst the names to miss out surprisingly in the 10 players drafted by new franchises Team Pune and Rajkot on December 15, 2015 auction. He now will get another chance when the auctions take place in February.

Watson has been one of the most prolific batsman in the IPL.Watson has played in seven IPL seasons and scored 2372 runs with a decent average of 36.49. His bowling too has been good with 61 wickets in 78 matches to show his prowess in both sections.

Watson needed to perform well so that it can can help him to find takers in the February auction. Also the T20 World Cup starts in March 2016 and Watson would be desperately seeking a way back into the Aussie set up once again.

His batting form for Australia saw a dip as he played his last T20 against on August 31 2015. That was his only T20 game in the entire year. After a match-winning performance against Pakistan in the ICC 2015 World Cup, Watson's form saw a slump as he featured in just five ODIs after that.

Aussies have some big names in their line-up and several pace all-rounders with the likes of James Faulkner, Mitchell Marsh and John Hastings. He will have to fight for a place against these players to make a cut in the squad for the ICC T20 WC.