Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opener Shane Watson lauded the franchise's "amazing" set-up and its "incredible leadership" group, including owners, skipper MS Dhoni, coach Stephen Fleming and the rest of the support staff after his arrival in UAE for the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), starting September 19.
Watson, the former Australia all-rounder, who joined CSK ahead of IPL 2018 after stints with Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), pointed out what makes playing for the three-time champions very special in a video posted over Twitter by the franchise itself.
Read Also: "Excited to meet Smith, looking forward to face Archer in nets", says Yashasvi Jaiswal
"I've been very fortunate to be able to play for CSK over the last few years. I loved my time with Rajasthan Royals, that was an incredible experience to play under Shane Warne and to play in front of huge crowds in Jaipur, it's a pretty ground, the wicket is amazing," said Watson.
"But CSK..it's just an amazing franchise and that has incredible leadership run all the way down. MS Dhoni, Stephen Fleming, just the way they've set-up the whole franchise is phenomenal."
"So you just come in (as a player) and you're embraced, you're trusted. So I feel really fortunate to be able to play for a great franchise at the back end of my career," added the 39-year-old, who was key to CSK winning the title two years back on its comeback to the league.
In the video, Watson also revealed his favourite CSK moment, having now played 32 matches for Dhoni's side.
"It's actually the first game that I played for CSK, which was against Mumbai Indians (MI) in Mumbai (a tough encounter in the IPL 2018 opener). It was a really tight game. DJ Bravo batted like a genius. He got us out of trouble and won us the game."
"And after the game, MS Dhoni and also Mike Hussey (assistant coach) said, 'you know, that's just what we do, we're never out of the game'."
"We had been kept out of the league for two years (in 2016 and 2017), but to comeback, in the first game against one of the best teams, Mumbai Indians, and be able to win a game like that, and that's what CSK did. That was an amazing initiation with a great franchise," Watson signed off.
