Indian bowlers can’t be as effective as Neil Wagner: Matthew Wade

Matthew Wade, the Australian wicketkeeper, reckons that the Indian fast bowlers would be peppering them with short-pitched deliveries in the upcoming tour. However, the southpaw believes that they won’t be as effective as New Zealand’s Neil Wagner. Back in December-January, Australia hammered the Black Caps by 3-0 in the three-match Test series, but facing Wagner was tough for them.

The left-arm fast bowler peppered them with bumpers and picked up 17 wickets at an average of 22.76. Wade didn’t find facing Wagner easy either. The left-hander said that the Kiwis’ speedster was an accurate lot as far as bowling bouncers was concerned

“I think we’ll see it a bit (from India) but I don’t think it will be as effective as Wagner. He’s done it for a long time now. To be honest I’ve never faced a bowler who is so accurate at bowling bouncers,” Wade was quoted as saying on cricket.com.au.

Wagner hasn’t played limited-overs cricket for New Zealand, but he has made a serious impact in Test cricket. In 48 matches, the 34-year-old has picked up 206 wickets with nine five-wicket hauls. He made his debut back in 2012 and has been going great guns.

India are a fierce team: Matthew Wade

As far India’s tour is concerned, Wade said that it would be a hard one for the hosts. He lauded Virat Kohli, the skipper of the Indian team, for the approach he takes. Back in 2018-19, Kohli became the first Indian captain to win a Test series on Australian soil after victories in Adelaide and Melbourne.

“They (India) are a fierce team. They’re as hard a team as I’ve ever played in terms of the way they compete. Led by Virat, you can see the way he goes about it on the field, you can see what it means to him and he drives all those guys, they jump on the back of him,” he added.

India’s upcoming tour gets underway on December 3 with the opening Test at The Gabba in Brisbane. Adelaide is set to host the Day-Night Test followed by the ones in Melbourne and Sydney. It remains to be seen if India are able to replicate last time’s performance or not.