Australian batter Matthew Wade announced his retirement from international cricket on Tuesday. He identified his team’s loss to India in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 Super Eights as the moment he realized his career was likely over.
Wade played for 13 years and, during that period, represented Australia in 225 matches. The 36-year-old was part of three T20 World Cups. Among his many performances, the most notable remains his 2021 appearance as vice-captain in helping Australia seal their first-ever T20 title in Dubai.
Reflecting on his retirement, Wade said the 24-run defeat against India really hit him hard. “It probably hit home after we lost against India,” Wade told cricket.com.au. “That was when I sat down and reflected that was probably the end of my career. It was an emotional moment,” he said.
Wade also spoke about the strong relationships built over time with teammates and coaching staff. He was quite close to the group, and that moment of introspection meant much: “Thankfully, I was playing well enough over the last couple of years,” he added. Matthew Wade revealed with Dave in the team, he knew he would bat at seven. And they wanted him to keep doing that finishing role.
In the match against India, Rohit Sharma attacked with a swift 92 runs off 41 balls to guide India in reaching 205/5. Despite the strong 76 from Travis Head and the partnership with Mitchell Marsh, Australia fell short. Wade scored only 27 runs in four innings with a top score of 17 not out.
After the tournament, Wade felt the time was ripe for Josh Inglis to come in as the regular wicketkeeper-batter. He was full of praise for Inglis: “The time was right for Ingo to come in. He was certainly ready to take that role.”
Wade felt that they needed a batsman for the top-middle order position; hence, Inglis fit the bill perfectly.
Matthew Wade represented the team in 36 Test matches, 97 ODIs, and 92 T20Is. The left-handed batsman scored 1,613 Test runs, 1,867 ODI runs, and 1,202 T20I runs. Although Wade may be retiring from international cricket, he intends to keep playing cricket in Australia at the domestic level and franchise cricket around the world. He will also start his coaching career simultaneously as he begins by joining the coaching staff for next month’s T20I series against Pakistan.
ANI
