Matthew Wade played T20 World Cup final with an injury
Wade wasn't ready to even go for the scans as he was determined to play the final.
Matthew Wade was Australia’s hero in the T20 World Cup semi-final against Pakistan. His heroic knock of 41 runs from 17 balls helped Australia defeated the Babar Azam-led whoever unbeaten until then in the tournament. Australia then proceeded and defeated New Zealand in the final to win their maiden T20 World Cup trophy. Wade didn’t have to do much with the bat in the game largely thanks to Mitchell Marsh.
However, it has been revealed now that the wicketkeeper-batter played with a grade 2 side strain in the final. Wade himself spoke about his situation 24 hours before the game while also saying that he wouldn’t have played if he didn’t feel good on the day of the match.
“I was a little bit worried the night before the game, for sure. If I had woken up and I couldn’t swing the bat, I wouldn’t have played. “But in my mind, they would have had to strap me to the bed. I was always going to go out there and play. But I wouldn’t have played if there was a chance it was going to hurt the team,” he said according to cricket.com.au.
Matthew Wade wasn’t ready to look at his scans, reveals Aaron Finch
Australia skipper Aaron Finch admitted to have been worried about Matthew Wade’s fitness in the lead up to the final. He was also taken to the scans but Wade was not ready to look at the results. Finch also said that there was always fear in their mind as well and the results had returned a grade 2 tear. The skipper was also proud of his wicketkeeper for fighting it through and featuring in the most important game of the tournament.
“There was always a little bit of a fear. The doctor forced him into a scan. He didn’t want to know the result, but I knew… and being a grade two tear in his side, it was going to be tough. But if anyone was going to play, it would have been him. You would have had to cut his leg off.
“I thought he kept brilliantly (in the final). Towards the backend, I saw him in a bit of pain with a couple of dives and throws. But he was never missing that,” Finch said.
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