Published: May 31, 2022, 12:22 PM (IST)
Edited: May 31, 2022, 12:28 PM (IST)
Ahmedabad: Matthew Wade is elated after winning his first Indian Premier League (IPL) title with newcomers Gujarat Titans. The Australian even termed winning the IPL as the next best thing to lifting the men’s T20 World Cup.
Gujarat Titans played wonderful cricket to clinch the IPL trophy. They defeated Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets in a one-sided final match. Wade could not manage to play a big role in the team’s victory as he only made eight runs off 10 balls in the final. However, he cannot forget the title and atmosphere inside the Narendra Modi Stadium during the final on Sunday.
Wade was also a member of the Australian side under skipper Aaron Finch, which won its maiden ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE last year defeating Trans-Tasman neighbours New Zealand in the final.
“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 to SEN Radio.
He stated, “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.”
Wade has now become the 16th Australian to win an IPL title He joined the long list of Australians including legends like the late Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Watson, Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee and Matthew Hayden to have won the biggest franchise-based cricket tournament in the world. He said, “I was a little bit disappointed with my tournament but as a team we’ve (Titans) played unbelievably well, we’ve had four or five guys that have really got going.”
The Australian keeper will get to spend just a couple of days at home before the Finch-led side takes off to Sri Lanka for the white-ball series. He stated, “I’ll basically just drop my kit off then head back over to Sri Lanka, come back (home) for about a month for some time off, play (England’s) Hundred for Birmingham and then seven or eight T20Is between now and the World Cup.”
“I don’t think I’ll be pushing on too far after that at the international level. I’m excited for the next three or four months, it’s going to be a good time in my life and cricketing life, I’m going to enjoy it for sure,” Wade concluded.
(With inputs from IANS)
