Australia wicket-keeper batsman Matthew Wade on Monday said that it feels like that he has restarted his career over the last three years.
Wade had led Australia in the second T20I of the three-match series against India as regular skipper Aaron Finch sat out of the match due to an injury. The left-handed batsman was dropped from Australia’s Test and T20 sides on the eve of the 2017-18 Ashes. He then scored a huge amount of runs in the 2018-19 season for Tasmania and the Hobart Hurricanes, and as a result, he made his way back into Australia’s squad for the 2019 Ashes, in which he played all five Tests and scored two centuries.
“Yes, I’m 32, and I’ve been around a long time, but I see myself as a completely different player. Matthew Wade, the guy that played as wicketkeeper-batter, is a completely different player than the one that’s been playing the last three years. I almost feel like I restarted my career a couple of years ago, debuting at 30,” cricket.com.au quoted Wade as saying.
“No different to guys like ‘Hadds’ (Brad Haddin) and Mike Hussey, those kinds of guys.
Age is always spoken about when you get to my age and that’s the nature of the beast. Every game I play for Australia is one that I didn’t think I’d get and whether that’s my last game or whether I’ll play another 50, that doesn’t phase me too much, to be honest,” he added.
Talking about leading Australia in the second T20I against India, Wade replied: “If you had have told me then (he would captain Australia), I certainly wouldn’t have believed you, but this game moves fast and sometimes things happen that are quite unexpected and that’s exactly what’s happened in this scenario.”
“There’s plenty of guys that could have done it on the ground at the time which made it a lot easier for me. But yeah, I’m really proud and honored to captain my country,” he added.
India has already won the T20I series against Australia after gaining an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. In the second T20I, Wade had played a knock of 56 runs to take Australia’s total to 194/5.
However, Hardik Pandya played a knock of 42 runs off just 22 balls as India chased down the total with six wickets in hand and two balls to spare. Both the sides will now lock horns in the final T20I on Tuesday.
