Watson 'needed stitches' after final

It has been revealed Shane Watson required six stitches after bravely batting on with a nasty gash in his leg during the IPL final.

Watson injured his leg diving to make his ground in the third over of the Chennai Super Kings' run chase against the Mumbai Indians when he took a tight single off the bowling of Lasith Malinga.

Watson had to dive at the non-striker's end and the single took him to 7 from 11 balls but left the Brisbane-born champion with an injury that would leave the left trouser of his yellow uniform stained red around the knee.

Watson clubbed 80 before he was run out in the final over going for a second run, again diving in an attempt to make his ground despite the earlier injury.

He smashed four sixes and eight fours in his 59-ball knock, but it ultimately proved in vain for the MS Dhoni-captained side.

Malinga secured Mumbai the win with a wicket off the final ball, leaving Chennai one run short in the final at Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

Watson's injury was revealed by Chennai teammate Harbhajan Singh who posted a photo of the Australian in full flight with the blood stain around his left knee on his Instagram story.

"Can you guys see the blood on his knee. He got 6 stitches after the game ... got injured while diving but continue to bat without telling anyone," Harbhajan wrote alongside a picture with Watson in full flight. "That's our @srwatson33. Almost pulled it (off) for us last night."

Watson finished the season with 398 runs and a strike rate of 127.56 from his 17 matches. His 80 in the final was his second successive half-century, having hit an even 50 in the previous game to help Chennai beat the Ricky Ponting-coached Delhi and reach the final.

Watson last month announced he would no longer play in the KFC BBL with the 37-year-old keen to spend more of summer with his young family. He will continue to play Premier Cricket in Sydney plus other T20 tournaments around the world.

Dhoni suggested his ageing side needed a shake-up after the defeat.

"We need to go back and reflect as to how we reached the finals. I don't think it was one of those years where we played really good cricket and we got into the finals," said Dhoni.

"After the World Cup, once we come back, that's the time we get to the drawing board and see what can be done to fill the gaps.

"Nothing against the bowlers, but batting could have been better," said Dhoni, whose team has won three IPL titles from eight finals.