Matthew Wade is a man under much pressure these days. The limited-overs tour of India was supposed to provide him an escape route from a lean batting patch that saw him score just 17 runs in three Test innings in Bangladesh. But the switch over to India and coloured kits hasn't made it any easier - scores of 9 and 2 relegated him to the bench before coming back in a dead rubber for an unbeaten 3.
AUSTRALIA TOUR OF INDIA (ODIS), 2017
Matthew Wade not in panic stations yet
'I have to score runs any time I have to go bat' © AFP
The clock is ticking for Wade to ensure he keeps his Test spot for the impending Ashes series at home, as Peter Nevill pushes for a comeback. But the 29-year-old isn't worried, and admits he knows exactly what he needs to do.
"A lot has been made about me failing in the Bangladesh and couple of times here but before I played in India [In the Test series], I was batting really well," Wade said ahead of the fifth and final ODI in Nagpur, on Saturday (September 30). "I would have liked to score more runs in this series but has not happened. If I go back to the way I was batting in India, I played quite well. It is not panic stations yet and I know what I have to do."
David Saker, Australia's stand-in coach for the series, admitted that the think-tank wanted to play Wade all through the five-match series, but not without the latter
