Sydney [Australia], August 20 : Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson reflected on his strong connection with India, describing the country as a "second home" while speaking at the Indian Independence Day celebrations organised by the Consulate of India in Sydney.
India celebrated its 80th Independence Day on August 15.
In a video shared on X by The Australia Today, Shane Watson said he feels privileged to celebrate India's 80th Independence Day, highlighting the deep connection he shares with the country and Indian cricket fans, whose support has had a significant impact on his life and career.
"It's always a special time for me to be in an event or around an event like this, to be celebrating the 80th Independence Day, of India, and just to know the incredible connection and the impact that, that the Indian people, the Indian public, the impact that it's had on my life and my career as well is something that I've never ever taken for granted and events like this make it so special to be able to know the, the fortunate career that I've had up to date, but still been able to share the love of the game of cricket that I've always had," Watson said.
Watson, apart from playing in the matches of Australia's tour to India during his international cricket career which spanned from 2002 to 2016, also spent plenty of time in India while playing for Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings. Currently, he serves as the Assistant Coach for Kolkata Knight Riders.
Shane Watson described India as a "second home", saying he has felt more welcomed and supported by Indian cricket fans than in Australia. He credited the IPL's arrival in 2008 for strengthening his connection with India.
"It really does feel like a second home. It's an interesting thing. I was fortunate enough to have played cricket for Australia for quite a long time, but I always felt a lot more welcome in India. And whether it was because of... fortunately the IPL came along in 2008, and, that was a time where I was able to, have some really good performances at an important time in my career," he said.
"But from that moment on, I really did feel a lot more support. Obviously, there's a lot more people in India who do love cricket compared to here in Australia, but I always felt that I was never really judged as much in India. It was more the support, people appreciating what I did whereas, back here in Australia, if things were going well, the support was normally good, if things weren't going so well, it was a little bit more judgmental," he added.
Watson said he continues to value his connection with India and feels fortunate to have witnessed the country's rapid development since his first visit as a 19-year-old.
"Whereas for me with my experience with India and the Indian cricket fans, it was never that way and that's the thing that I absolutely continue to love about the opportunity to be able to go over to India and for the first time I went over to India as a 19-year-old, when I was at the Cricket Academy, to see how India as a country has continued to evolve so quickly really in over 20 years, is I feel very fortunate to be able to see how it continues to evolve like it is," he said.
Watson said he particularly enjoys India's vegetarian cuisine, praising its variety and flavour and joking that it is far more appealing than the typically "bland" vegetarian food he finds in Australia.
"The thing that I love about going to India the most, like obviously growing up here in Australia, it's all about the barbecue and I certainly love my barbecue, that's, that's what you grow up with. But the beauty of going to India is because it's predominantly a vegetarian country, it means you get to eat beautiful vegetarian food that actually tastes really nice whereas here in Australia vegetarian food most of the time it's very bland, very plain. Whereas in India, most of the time when I'm there I'll be eating vegetarian food because how good it tastes and knowing when I come back to Australia, that is absolutely not the case," Watson said.