A SHATTERED Shane Watson is considering retiring from cricket after the Australian vice-captain last night sensationally quit the Indian tour following his dumping for the third Test.

In one of the most dramatic days in Australian cricket history, coach Mickey Arthur dropped a bombshell on the team yesterday by dumping Watson, Mitchell Johnson, James Pattinson and Usman Khawaja for breaching team discipline.
The quartet were stood down from selection for one match for failing to respond to a peer review of the side’s dismal performance in the second Test.
But the team was rocked by a second ruction late last night, with vice-captain Watson deciding to leave India to be with wife Lee, who is heavily pregnant and due to give birth.
Watson had hinted in January he might have to go home early for the birth but has been left gutted by the circumstances surrounding his axing – to the point where he is now contemplating walking away from the game.
“I am going to spend the next few weeks with my family and weigh up my options as to exactly which direction I want to go,” he said.
“There are a lot more important things in life. I do love playing cricket and that passion is still there and I feel I am in the prime years of my cricket career.
“But in the end I have got to live with this. That is the decision they have made and at this point in time I am at a stage where I have to weigh up my future with what I want to do with my cricket in general to be honest.”
Watson made a hasty exit from the team hotel last night dressed in a black suit. He believes the decision to dump the quartet was heavy-handed.
“I am excited about the birth, but I’m absolutely shattered,” he said
“Any time you’re suspended for a Test match unless you do something unbelievably wrong, and obviously everyone knows what those rules are … I think it is very harsh.”
The 16-man touring party was asked to complete a personal review of the team’s culture and expectations and the improvements needed to be made for the third Test starting on Thursday.
Watson, Pattinson, Khawaja and Johnson failed to submit a personal analysis – prompting team hierarchy, with the support of skipper Michael Clarke, to immediately rule the group out for the Test in Mohali