Ashish Nehra hails Matthew Wade, explains the reason behind his success against India

Just when India thought they are on the verge of winning the match against Australia in the first T20I in Mohali, Matthew Wade came and played a memorable innings to take the game away from India’s grip. The Aussie hit an unbeaten 45 off 21 balls and based on his blistering innings, Australia chased down 208 with four balls to spare.

Ashish Nehra, Wade's coach at Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League, revealed the reason behind the southpaw's success in the match. He believes that the Aussie team has given him the right spot as he couldn’t perform well at the top order in the IPL. Speaking to Cricbuzz, the 43-year-old talked about Wade’s struggles and how he overcame those in the match against India.

“Matthew Wade struggled through the entire season. He opened, he batted at 3, but when he plays for Australia, he plays at 5 or 6. I remember the T20 World Cup last year when he smashed Shaheen Afridi for two sixes,” Nehra said.

“Today, he played that lap shot or play through midwicket. But the 1-2 shots he played today, once against Harshal Patel where he waited for a slower ball and smashed it towards square leg.. that comes from experience,” the former India international added.

Even if the target was 218, Wade would've steered them to win: Ashish Nehra

It was indeed a tough ask for Australia as they needed 55 from the last four overs but the way Wade and Tim David played, the chase looked pretty comfortable. Credit also goes to Cameron Green at the top of the order who in his first match in India smashed 61 off 30 balls and gave the Aussies a platform to build on. However, they still needed someone who could finish the game and Wade was the answer from Australia.

“Green had laid the foundation for Australia's win, but you needed someone who could provide a strong finish. It seemed even if the target was 218, Wade would've steered them to win,” Nehra said in the same show.

Green, who normally bats in the middle order, was promoted up the order and that looked like a masterstroke for Australia. This shows how flexible the Aussie batting line-up is and this will be key for the team going into the T20 World Cup.

“You wouldn't be surprised to see Cameron Green playing at 5-6. Similarly, you also wouldn't have been surprised if Wade had opened for Australia. That's the thing with batting order in T20s. It's just about what clicks for a player and when. For Wade, when he dons the Aussie colours and plays lower down the order, he uses that experience well,” Nehra said to conclude the discussion.