ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Shane Watson graceful in accepting failure

Australia may have registered a convincing 275-runs victory over Afghanistan on Wednesday in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 but for Shane Watson, it was a tough day in office. Not because he failed to perform again but he had the worst pill to swallow when he was dropped from the team for the return of James Faulkner.

Watson watched from the sidelines as David Warner (178) threatened to erase his Australian One-Day International (ODI) record of 185 not out before falling seven runs short of the milestone. That aside, his replacement at the No 3 position, Steve Smith, scored 95 runs as both Smith and Warner added 252-runs for the second wicket.

Faulkner and Mitchell Marsh have overtaken Watson in the all-rounders’ pecking order. Without an ODI century since October 2013, Watson knew he had only himself to blame. Watson said, “I believe in myself and my own abilities. If an opportunity comes along, I’ll be ready to go.”

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Watson is still hopeful for a return but it seems unlikely as both Faulkner and Marsh have done enough to keep their place in the playing XI. He said, “There are things I’ve made adjustments on even before I got dropped to try to improve and give myself a better chance to score runs and perform. I’m always trying to get better and learn, so that’s all I can do.”