Cricket World Cup 2015: Shane Watson goes from national outsider to Aussie hero

SHANE Watson was on the brink of cricket obscurity, but former great and Australia selector Mark Waugh gave “Watto” the chance to right his wrongs on the field.

Australia's Shane Watson celebrates as Australia defeated Pakistan by six wickets in their Cricket World Cup quarterfinal match in Adelaide, Australia, Friday, March 20, 2015. (AP Photo/James Elsby)

IF it weren’t for Mark Waugh, we may never have seen Shane Watson play for his country again.

And there are many who couldn’t have been happier.

In fact there were thousands of lounge chair critics celebrating in the streets of social media when Watson’s axing was announced.

This is Shane Watson — maligned but also misunderstood.

It’s easy to understand why the masses become so exasperated that their criticism bordered on personal dislike.

They saw the underachievement, the injuries, the shrugged shoulders and couldn’t understand how or why Watson continued to survive.

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Watson is clapped of the Adelaide Oval.

But there is another side to Watson and it’s one that people find difficult to comprehend — and it has nothing to do with his genuine personality and rich social conscience.

It’s the undoubted fact that Watson takes failure and disappointment even more personally than his legion of critics.

Yes, he really, really cares. Perhaps too much.

Watson’s dropping was a line-in-the-sand moment many felt should have happened, weeks, months even years earlier.

But what few gave Watson credit for was the way he accepted a call which shattered him deeply.

Not one word of complaint. Watson went straight to the nets to help his teammates prepare.

But Mark Waugh has given Watson a chance to showcase his true self before it’s too late.

It was a massive risk, but one that Australian cricket may be richer for.

As the selector on duty in Sydney against Sri Lanka, Waugh reversed a decision he didn’t wholeheartedly agree with in the first place, and reinstated Watson four days after his sacking in Perth.

The reasoning for Watson being more effective than Mitchell Marsh on a slow SCG wicket made perfect sense, but overturning such a monumental stance on an experienced player seemed completely illogical.

As Australia slipped to 4-177 in the 33rd over, Cricket Australia officials were privately squirming as Watson strode to the crease.

If the big all-rounder failed here and the slide of wickets continued, they were facing a public relations disaster over an obvious split in opinions on the selection panel.

A loss would have been potentially terminal for Australia’s campaign and the fallout embarrassing.

Watson celebrates with Glenn Maxwell after hitting the winning runs against Pakistan.

But fears were allayed.

Watson turned back the clock to power out a brilliant 67 off 41, as part of a match-turning partnership with Glenn Maxwell.

It was a fine knock, but it had nothing on what he then backed up with against Pakistan in the pressure of a knockout quarterfinal.

Watson was lucky, but he survived.

After all — that’s what he does.

Along with donating hundreds of dollars with every boundary he hits and wicket he takes to finding a cure for Motor Neurone Disease.

And spending nearly every waking minute he wasn’t training for the clash against Bangladesh, by the bedside of a dying friend who had mentored him as a teenager.

Watson is a cricketing survivor.

Only this time amid the drama and theatre at Adelaide Oval, it was celebrated.

Mesmerised by the intensity of Wahab Riaz’s spell, fans cheered as Watson ducked and weaved, stared down his nemesis and steered Australia home.

It was an innings so career-defining it could even change people’s rusted-on doubts.

Although the irony is, had that sitter of a catch been taken in the deep and Australia had fallen to 4-80 odd, the knives would have been out again.

The 33-year-old veteran has walked a tightrope for a long, long time.

But with the end of his career not far away and a World Cup on the line, the real Shane Watson might just stand up.