Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has heavily criticised Matthew Wade for playing an aggressive brand of cricket when the situation demanded him to play a mature knock on the second day of the Sydney Test. Wade could only manage 13 runs in 16 balls before giving away his wicket to Ravindra Jadeja.
We talk about game awareness: Ricky Ponting
Matthew Wade decided to take on Ravindra Jadeja but could only manage to top edge to Jasprit Bumrah. Ricky Ponting felt that Wade should not have gone with that approach considering the new ball was due to come.
He feels that the wicketkeeper-batsman ouster also led to the early loss of Cameron Green, who is playing only his third Test and is still not experienced to face the new ball.
“Matthew Wade needs to have a lot more game awareness. In a situation like that, Matthew Wade has been opening in the last couple of Test matches, so the new ball is not going to faze him.
“But what he’s done by getting out is expose Cameron Green to the new ball, a guy in his third Test, and for mine that is just not thinking enough about the situation of the game,” Ricky Ponting said.
Ricky Ponting Slams Matthew Wade:
The former Aussie cricketer, who is also commentating in the Test series, felt Matthew Wade lacked game awareness. He should have been with Steve Smith when India took the second new ball.
“We talk about game awareness and understanding what’s happening in the game. There was a phase there that Matthew Wade had to make sure he was there when the new ball came out,” added Ricky Ponting.
Matthew Wade had opened the innings in the last two Test matches. In the Sydney Test, Travis Head was dropped to make a place for him in the middle-order after the return of David Warner.
Meanwhile, Australia has put 338 runs on board in the first innings while India has lost both the openers for 96 runs.