Fading Wade feels heat ahead of Ashes
NAGPUR: Australia pulled off a consolation win over India in the fourth ODI in Bangalore, but ahead of the final game of the series here on Sunday, wicketkeeper Matthew Wade said his side won’t step up merely to respect the fixture.
“The final match is important to us. There has been plenty of talk about our record away from home, so it was nice to get that monkey off the back with a win in the last match that can hopefully get some momentum going forward,” he told the pre-match press conference at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Jamtha on Saturday.
“Our players have not performed well enough, myself included. It will be nice to finish here with a win and then lead into the Australian summer,” the 29-year-old added.
Given that Wade hasn’t been in the best of batting form, he admitted he has been told by the selectors he needs to have runs under his belt to be included in the squad.
“I probably have not scored enough runs. My performance has been summed up by me getting dropped in the last game (third ODI), so there is no point sitting here and thinking about what has already happened. The selectors have told me I need score runs if I am to be picked,” Matthew Wade said. He, however, defended his keeping, which had come under a lot of criticism in the Bangladesh series.
“I thought I kept quite well in Bangladesh, I know therewas lot of talk, especially during the first Test with the number of byes I conceded. But if you look at their keeper and given the conditions I thought we were quite similar. I felt in the second Test especially, I took some good chances.
“I have been pretty good in India where I felt I kept quite well. Selectors have told me there have been no concerns with my keeping; they just want me to score more runs.”