Confident I can play the ball late enough against the brand new ball, asserts Matthew Wade
Matthew Wade, who will open for the first time in the longest format of the game, has stated that batting at the Bellerive Oval has given him enough exposure to play the ball late enough against the new ball. Wade has now projected as a makeshift opener after a host of injury scare and form issues.
David Warner is out with a groin injury, Will Pucovski is out with a concussion while Marcus Harris is out of form as is Joe Burns. Australiaās opening conundrum is as big as it has ever been and it has seen the board look for an ingenious solution to crack the code.Ā
Burns, as the incumbent, got the nod with the board zeroing in with Matthew Wade as the opener to settle both him and Green in the playing XI and optimize the available resources. But will that pay a dividend, as we will soon find out but Wade is confident that he can pull it off.
āIāve never opened the batting in first-class or any other [red or pink-ball cricket]. Iāve batted seven, six, five, four, and three now, so I thought Iād tick off one or two. I think it came about after the last T20. It was thrown up, so Iāve kind of been mentally preparing probably since then for that scenario,ā he told Fox Sports after the end of the first day in Adelaide.
āIām not going to turn into an opener overnight, I know that. Who knows if itās going to be for one or two Tests, Iām not 100 percent sure. But Iāll give it a good crack. Iām lucky that Iāve batted at Bellerive , which is a bowler-friendly wicket, for the last three years, so Iām confident I can play the ball late enough for the brand new ball.ā
Currently, thanks to the communication error between Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane towards the fag end of the day, Australia clawed their way back and reduced India to 233-6.Ā That has set the Men in Blue withĀ a task on their hands to get to a decent total before Wade and Burns stride to the ground to battle the new ball.
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