Former Indian pacer, Ashish Nehra, who served as head coach of Gujarat Titans (GT) to win their maiden title in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 has looked back on Matthew Wade, who played a match-winning knock against India on Tuesday, 20 September. Nehra revealed that Wade was struggling to get going in the IPL, but took out valuable experiences which helped him against India on Tuesday at Mohali.
During a chat on Cricbuzz, Ashish Nehra said, “Matthew Wade struggled through the entire season. He opened, he batted at 3, but when he plays for Australia, he plays at 5 or 6. I remember the T20 World Cup last year when he smashed Shaheen Afridi for two sixes.”
Matthew Wade played a whirlwind knock of 21-ball 45 runs after a mini-collapse by the Australian team and steered his team to a win alongside debutant Tim David.
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Talking about the southpaw, Ashish Nehra said, “Today, he played that lap shot or play through midwicket. But the 1-2 shots he played today, once against Harshal Patel where he waited for a slower ball and smashed it towards square leg.. that comes from experience.”
The match started titled in favor of Australia when the youngster Cameron Green smashed 61 runs on his opening debut to take India out of the attack, however, the Aussies had much to do after losing three wickets in 2 overs.
Talking about Green, Ashish Nehra said, “Green had laid the foundation for Australia’s win, but you needed someone who could provide a strong finish. It seemed even if the target was 218, Wade would’ve steered them to win. You wouldn’t be surprised to see Cameron Green playing at 5-6. That’s the thing with batting order in T20s. For Wade, when he dons the Aussie colors and plays lower down the order, he uses that experience well.”
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Matthew Wade has been influential at the back end for Australia for a while in the shortest format of the game. Alongside Marcus Stoinis, Wade rescued the side in the 2021 T20 World Cup several times, eventually in a trophy-winning campaign.
