Chennai Super Kings off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on Monday revealed how Shane Watson batted through the pain barrier during the IPL 2019 final against Mumbai Indians in Hyderabad.
According to Harbhajan, the Chennai Super Kings opener received six stitches on his left leg after Watson dived to save his wicket during his knock.
Harbhajan posted a picture on his Insta story of Watson's bloodied left leg from the final.
"Can you guys see the blood on his knee.. He got 6 stitches after the game..Got injured while diving but continue to bat without telling anyone," Harbhajan wrote on his Insta story and shared a picture as well.
Watson almost pulled off the 150-run chase against Mumbai Indians on Sunday night as he smashed 80 off 59 balls for Chennai and batted till the penultimate ball of the match. But once he was run out, Chennai failed to scrape past the finish line and ended up falling short by 1 run.
Watson fought valiantly for the Super Kings but couldn't take his team over the line as Lasith Malinga bowled a sensational final over and defended 8 runs off it.
Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians were chasing their 4th IPL title but MI came on top after they held their nerves in a nail-biting title clash.
Harbhajan said he still could not come to terms with the fact that CSK could not chase down 150 on a good pitch and rued the loss of regular wickets after a good opening stand between Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson.
"From the fans' point of view, it was kind of a paisa vasool match but for us it was heartbreaking. Getting MI out for 149, chasing 150 in Hyderabad on that pitch, I thought we had the match," Harbhajan told India Today. "We had a good start upfront but we lost wickets. I still feel why this happened to us. It was our game. But we have to accept the fact that MI are winners but it was our game," he said.MS Dhoni's run out created a stir and Harbhajan Singh said Chennai Super Kings would have liked to see the Dhoni decision go their way.
"We would have liked MS Dhoni's decision to go in our way. If you see, the angles...from one end it looked out, from one end he looked to have made it. It was tough decision to make. A lot of times it's been said that the decision should be given in batsman's favour. In Dhoni's case, it wasn't given. I think it's one of the key points where the game drifted away from us.
"Apart from that, I didn't think we built enough partnerships. Watson almost pulled a miracle for us. But it wasn't enough. Even after MS Dhoni got out, we came so close.. Shane Watson brought us really close," he said.MS Dhoni's run out created a stir and Harbhajan Singh said Chennai Super Kings would have liked to see the Dhoni decision go their way.
"We would have liked MS Dhoni's decision to go in our way. If you see, the angles...from one end it looked out, from one end he looked to have made it. It was tough decision to make. A lot of times it's been said that the decision should be given in batsman's favour. In Dhoni's case, it wasn't given. I think it's one of the key points where the game drifted away from us.
"Apart from that, I didn't think we built enough partnerships. Watson almost pulled a miracle for us. But it wasn't enough. Even after MS Dhoni got out, we came so close.. Shane Watson brought us really close," he said.