Matthew Wade, Gujarat Titans batter called the feeling of winning the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 is as close as winning a World Cup. Matthew Wade recalled the unique experience of playing in front of one lakh spectators in the IPL 2022 final.
Playing in their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) season, against all odds, Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans created history by clinching an IPL title in their first season. The victory remains to be a talking point as nobody gave GT a chance after the IPL auction. Matthew Wade, who played quite a few games for the franchise in IPL 2022, called the triumph close to winning a World Cup.
Matthew Wade Feels IPL 2022 Win Is Close To Winning World Cup
In the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 semi-final against Pakistan, Matthew Wade played a key role for Aaron Finch-led Australia as he took Pakistan speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi to the cleaners, hitting a hat-trick of sixes against the left-arm pacer in the 19th over to help the Aussies reach yet another World Cup final.
Matthew Wade remained unbeaten on 41 off 17 balls and stitched a match-winning 81-run stand for the sixth wicket with Marcus Stoinis (40* off 31). This 2021 T20I World Cup was eventually won by the Australia team beating New Zealand in the final. Matthew Wade was required to bat only thrice and he managed 74 runs at an excellent strike rate of 164.44.
Matthew Wade recalled the memorable experience of playing in front of 1, 04, 000 spectators at the Narendra Modi Stadium and said the victory was close to winning a World Cup.
“It’s as close to winning a World Cup as you can get. It was a crazy atmosphere and something I’ll never forget — 104,000 people; I didn’t think I’d ever play in front of that many,” Wade said.
Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans beat Rajasthan Royals by 7 wickets in the IPL 2022 final to win their maiden title.
Matthew Wade However Didn’t Have A Memorable IPL 2022
Australia’s wicket-keeper batsman Matthew Wade gets with him a wealth of experience. His credentials in the shortest format of the game are well-known. He has played for the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in the past (IPL 2011) and turned up for IPL 2022 newcomers Gujarat Titans this year. He returned to the IPL after a hiatus of 11 years.
Matthew Wade, who did not have a memorable campaign with the bat for the Gujarat Titans, went on to add, “(It was) a different kind of feeling to a World Cup where you’ve spent a few years trying to build a team to get there.“But this one has got all the glitz and glamour on it, and they do it differently over in India and they put on a show,” said the Aussie keeper, who didn’t enjoy a great stint with the Hardik Pandya-led franchise, dishing out below-par scores in almost every match he got to play for the franchise.
Bought for Rs 2.40 crore by Gujarat, Matthew Wade played 10 matches where he scored 157 runs at 15.70. It has been a career of reinvention for the 34-year-old Matthew Wade as he went from Test wicketkeeper to specialist middle-order batsman to T20I World Cup-winning wicketkeeper as a finisher via a prolific run in domestic cricket when it appeared his international days were over.