The measure of a man lies in how he deals with unfavourable elements in his life that threaten to bog him down. It is how a man looks adversity in the eye and defeats it with the sheer weight of his will. Such men can be felled but cannot be kept from bouncing back on their feet and moving forward to achieve their dreams. That is what Shane Watson did throughout his 13-year long international career. He was often overpowered – sometimes by the opposition on the cricket field, at times by circumstances within his own team, and often by his own body. But he always got up. When Australia needed an opening batsman for their Test team, he became one, despite being predominantly skilled in the middle-order. He changed batting positions throughout his career and considered it an opportunity rather than a hindrance. Each time his back, shoulders or calves gave up on him, Watson coaxed his body into match fitness. When a string of hamstring injuries made bowling a trauma, the all-rounder within him refused to give up on his bowling career. Watson called time on his international career with the ICC World Twenty20, 2016. But his exuberance remains. Now he derives his cricketing thrill from joining a new team for VIVO IPL 2016. After being a rock for the Rajasthan Royals since the first edition of the tournament, Watson now dons the Royal Challengers Bangalore colours. In a candid chat with IPLT20.COM, the Australian all-rounder spoke about the new beginning and the international career he lived. It has been only a few days since your international retirement. Have you had the time to reflect on the afterlife? I have. It has been quite a while since I announced my international retirement. It was nice, leading up to my last game, to reflect on my career probably for the first time, and think of what I have been involved in throughout my career. After we got knocked out from the World Twenty20, I had a week to spend time with my family and reflect on how privileged I have been to have had the opportunities and be involved in some pretty special things in the last 13 years. Is it a good thing that you have come straight to the IPL after your last international match and have remained part of that cricketing and team environment? It is. This is the next phase of my life – playing T20 tournaments around the world. It is an exciting chapter in my cricketing career, starting with a new team in the IPL. This is a terrific opportunity for me to play with a number of players I have admired from afar for a long time. It was in the IPL in 2008 that my international career received a shot in the arm. I had played for Australia before that but after the way I performed in that tournament I grew in confidence and went from there. It was a catalyst in my career. Now, right after finishing my international career I am here again but playing for a new franchise. It is a fresh start with the RCB and I really look forward to playing with the likes of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle. It has been a very eventful and interesting 13-years long journey for you at the top level. A little enigmatic as well. How would you summarise it? More than anything, I achieved my dream of playing cricket for Australia. I know that I gave it everything I had. I worked tirelessly on the various aspects on my game and on my fitness issues. I have no regrets because I know I did not leave anything to chance. And I had a lot of fun along the way. One inspiring aspect of your career has been the fact that along the way you have had to fight your own body and bounce back from a string of injuries. Was there a time when you really felt like saying enough is enough? There were several moments when I wondered if I could put myself through it all over again. But more than any of those thoughts, my love for cricket shone through. I love playing this game and I continue to love it as much as I ever have. That was always what kept me going and pushing through those times. I wouldn’t have it any other way because going through those phases meant that I grew as a person. I had to fight through the setbacks that sometimes came at not the most appropriate times, and that made me a lot stronger mentally. I would not be the person I am today without all those experiences I had. Which one of those injury phases was the toughest? The toughest phase was around 2005-06 when I just kept on getting those hamstring injuries. They were fairly minor ones but they kept occurring. That was a period when I really didn’t have any answers as to why it was happening. I never thought about quitting cricket altogether; it was more a decision of whether I should stop being an all-rounder, which I have always absolutely loved. There were thoughts in my mind that if I cannot find answers to my hamstring injuries, I might have to give up bowling. That would have been devastating because I love that aspect of my game. In the end there are always answers if you look far enough, and I was fortunate to find the right persons at the right time to help me see the light at the end of the tunnel. As a bowler you started out with the thought of bowling as quick as you can. When and how was it you realised that there was more to pace bowling than hurling the ball fast? It was really when my body didn’t allow me to bowl that fast. It was in 2003 when I hurt my back again and had stress fractures. I had to look and find out what was going on because I couldn’t just keep on going like that. So I made some adjustments in my bowling technique and I realised that no matter how fast I bowled, I wouldn’t be effective if I wasn’t able to move and do something with the ball. That way I had more chances of getting the world-class batsmen out. You evolve and grow in every aspect of life and bowling was something I had to make adjustments in and add the swing, seam and variations to be more effective. The 2009 Ashes was a very significant moment in your Test career. You were moved to the opening slot and vindicated the decision. Since then you floated about in the batting order. How challenging was that and did it have any impact in your Test performances? There is no doubt that my batting career went over the roof when I got the opportunity to open the batting in Test cricket. Those were certainly my best years – being able to face the best bowlers in the world with the new ball was a great challenge. But the reason I was moved around in the batting order was that I didn’t score runs consistently at the top of the order. A couple of times I got injured and the person who came in my place did well. Part of the attraction for me was to be able to bat in all different positions. I started out as a No. 6 and 7 batsman and I had to develop a whole new aspect of my game to open the batting. That flexibility proved an asset for me to be picked in various teams but at times also worked against me – not having a fixed place to bat at. In the end, like being an all-rounder, it gave me more options and opportunities than someone who was fighting for a particular position. Talking about the limited overs arena, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to compare you with Jacques Kallis for the sheer impact you had in a match. Was it that you felt more at home in the shorter formats? Towards the end of my career I felt more comfortable in the shorter formats, but at my peak I felt at home in all formats. There is no doubt I was more consistent in limited overs cricket. I have played for some pretty incredible Australian ODI teams, been part of two World Cup winning teams, have opened the batting for them. It is true that as my game developed over the years, it became more suited to the ODI and T20 formats. There have been a few instances in your career when you have assumed unwanted limelight. Be it an on-field rift, the lbws in Tests or the homework saga. Have you, at times felt misunderstood? I dealt with it as well as I possibly could, with all the information I had and the support network around me. That is what you can do. There were times when being competitive on the field I went too far. Off the field there were situations I got involved in within the team, but that was more because I was sticking to my values and to what I believed was right. There was a certain team environment I grew up in and culture I believed in. And I stood up for it. But I was living my dream, and these were just the not so enjoyable parts of being an international professional cricketer. I did my best on the field and tried to deal with all the scrutiny off it as well as I could. I was fortunate to have a support system of people who helped me deal with those situations that arose quite a bit. Which is that one moment or phase in your career that you could relive over again? Winning the 2013-14 Ashes at home 5-0 and then lifting the World Cup a year later was something I will cherish forever. It was an incredible phase. Personally my output wasn’t as good as it was during some other periods in my career but just to be involved in such incredibly special moments as a team was wonderful. It was the first time that I felt the whole of Australia was behind every single person in the team. We really wanted to do well for them and we certainly did that. Was it especially rewarding coming after a rough phase the team went through in the previous couple of years with the homework gate and other controversies? Yes, absolutely. Things change quickly when the right people are brought into the team in right positions, and they are in a good head space. I certainly learned a lot of lessons for then and also for the future, even for when I quit playing cricket altogether.