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Aakash Chopra wants Gujarat Titans to leave Matthew Wade
By SMCS - Jun 4, 2022 8:20 am
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Former Indian player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra wants Gujarat Titans (GT) to release Australia’s keeper-batter Matthew Wade before the next season. He stated that the veteran couldn’t use his chances in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL 2022). The franchise chose him ahead of Wriddhiman Saha but Wade failed to make any significant contributions with the bat and was eventually dropped from the playing XI. But, he made a comeback in the last few games but his rough patch continued as well.

Matthew Wade
Matthew Wade was frustrated after his dismissal

And, Aakash Chopra believes that it makes no sense to keep a player who hasn’t contributed to the team’s success despite getting a lot of opportunities. And, he wants GT to part ways with him and rope in someone else next year. Meanwhile, Matthew Wade, who returned to the league after a long gap, smashed only 157 runs in 10 games which came at an average of 15.70 and a strike rate of below 115 as well.

Sharing his views on his YouTube channel, Chopra stated: “Matthew Wade should be released. He was a part of Australia’s T20 World Cup squad and has also won the IPL now, but he didn’t do anything, despite getting so many chances. If he’s not done anything, GT should part ways with him.”

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Aakash Chopra also said that the likes of Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya and David Miller did the bulk of the scoring for them. However, the Titans had to struggle with the No.3 batter where they did try a few options but the batters failed to do well. And, Aakash Chopra feels that the No.3 has been an area of concern for them as well. Captain Hardik Pandya was the top performer in IPL 2022. He smashed 487 runs from 15 matches as well. Opener Shubman Gill also did a great job, scoring 483 runs from 16 games as well. Meanwhile,

Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill registered his highest IPL score

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“They had Shubman Gill at the top, Hardik Pandya in the middle, and David Miller in the finisher’s role. There were expectations from Gill and Pandya. Miller, on the other hand, had a fantastic season, which hasn’t happened for a few years. But what apart from these guys? Saha came in quite late and they didn’t have a set opener for several games. Their No.3 is a pain point as they weren’t able to find the right candidate. Tewatia has done well in limited opportunities, but he does well while chasing and doesn’t do the same while batting first. I didn’t expect David Miller to do so well. There’s been a lot of hype around him but he hadn’t lived up to those expectations in recent years. He was struggling to score runs in the last few seasons. He’s made changes to his batting and it has reaped dividends,” Aakash Chopra concluded.