Kevin Pietersen trolls Matthew Wade on air

After surrendering the series to South Africa following their crushing defeat at Hobart, Australia made as many as six changes from the original squad which included the arrival of Matthew Wade as a replacement for Peter Nevill.

Australian wicket-keepers are known to be vocal behind the stumps and Wade did no harm to his country’s reputation, following the legacy on day three of the 3rd and the final Test. However, Wade not only succeeded in getting a wicket while following this policy, he was also trolled by former England batsman Kevin Pietersen who was present in the commentary box during that time.

Moments after Australia took the 1st innings lead, Wade came into action by sharing a few motivating words with bowler Josh Hazlewood who was bowling to Stephen Cook. It was designed to motivate him into picking a wicket or two but what transpired next was something pretty unusual and wouldn’t have been foreseen by Wade.

Just after Cook defended a ball back to the bowler, the talented wicket-keeper said, “Come on boys. Bad shot here boys and we start a roll here. One bad shot, it’ll open the door here boys! Come on lads”.

Kevin Pietersen who was present in the commentary box was very quick to reply and said: “One bad shot is going to bring Faf du Plessis in mate (which brought a few chuckles in the commentary box). He has just got a hundred and is in very good form, Wadey.”

Pietersen’s co-commentator tried to suggest him that Wade has been doing this for quite a long now and has the stamina to sledge oppositions and also respond to the crowd to which Pietersen replied, “can we turn him off please.”

Wade who was totally unaware of what was happening in the com box and kept on chirping from behind the stumps.  “Come on boys, open the door here,” he continued. “Come on, two newies out here, come on. Open the door for us here, Hoffey (Hazlewood). Come on, you ought to start a collapse here boys, come on.”

However, Wade’s plan of unsettling Cook didn’t quite work out as he went on to remain unbeaten on 81, his highest Test score away from home.