BAN vs AUS: Matthew Wade to lead Australia in five-match T20I series

Matthew Wade has been named as Australia’s skipper for the T20I series against Bangladesh to be played from August 3 to August 9 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. Aaron Finch left the bio-secure bubble after he aggravated his knee injury during Australia’s final T20I against the West Indies last month. Finch didn’t play the subsequent three-match ODI series.

Finch may undergo surgery on his right knee and is fighting against time to get fit for the T20 World Cup later this year in the UAE. Alex Carey captained in Finch’s absence in the ODI series in the Caribbean even as Pat Cummins was persisted with as the vice-captain. The matches in Bangladesh may also be Australia’s final T20Is before the mega event in the UAE.

Back in 2020, Wade became the 11th player to lead Australia when Finch missed a game against India. Last year, the southpaw also replaced Carey as the Aussies’ first-choice keeper in T20Is. Carey may play in Bangladesh but is likely to lose his place once the likes of David Warner and Glenn Maxwell return.

At my age, it doesn’t worry me too much: Matthew Wade

As far as Wade is concerned, he has captained Victoria, Tasmania and the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League. Talking about captaining Australia, he’s looking forward to the challenge.

“As I’ve said previously, we’ve got a really experienced group and I’m happy to take the reins from Finchy … At my age it doesn’t worry me too much,” Wade was quoted as saying to cricket.com.au last month.

Australia didn’t have a great outing in the West Indies, losing the T20I series 4-1. They resorted to a 7-4 strategy where they played with four specialist bowlers and many all-rounders.

Barring Mitchell Marsh, the other players failed to show any kind of consistency. Wade and Co will want to get back to winning ways after the poor show in the Caribbean.

Australia squad

Ashton Agar, Wes Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Dan Christian, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade (c), Adam Zampa. Travelling reserves: Nathan Ellis, Tanveer Sangha.