Australian all-rounder Shane Watson will retire from international and first-class cricket after the World T20 tournament in India.

Watson retired from Test cricket at the end of last year’s Ashes tour of England. He has not played an ODI since September last year.

Watson was the last remaining player turning out regularly in any format for Australia who had debuted before 2007, the year of the Warne-McGrath retirements. He has also confirmed that he is retiring from first-class cricket, having not played since the Ashes tour.

T20 had yet to be invented when Watson made his international debut in an ODI against South Africa in Centurion on March 24, 2002. He was 20 at the time. Now, on the eve of a crucial World T20 match against Pakistan, at the age of 34 and as a father of two children, Watson has decided that the time has come to move on to another stage of his life.

‘One morning I woke up in Dharamsala to the beautiful view and I don’t know what it was exactly but I knew now was the right time,’ Watson said.

‘I’ve really enjoyed my time being back in the Australian squad. But it is quite different, none of the other guys I played with growing up are here any more. I’ve made the right decision. I couldn’t really see the light with the all the injuries I had.’ – ESPNCricinfo