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In order to play for
Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield final, Matthew Wade will not be starting for
the Gujarat Titans in the 2024 Indian Premier League.
In an attempt to win the trophy for the first time since 2012–13, Tasmania is
guaranteed a spot in the Shield decider and is very certainly going to host the
match in Hobart.
Wade may only miss the opening game on March 25 against the Mumbai Indians, but
his availability for the second game on March 27 against the Chennai Super
Kings may be in doubt due to the final runs from March 21–25. On March 31, they
play their third game against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“He’s spoken
with his IPL franchise and they’re happy to allow him to stay here, which
probably equates to him potentially missing their first game,” Tasmania
head coach Jeff Vaughan told reporters in Hobart.
“We feel very fortunate to have someone of Matt’s ilk coming back into our
group, and his experience and his performances at the back end of our
season.”
Wade returned to
Tasmania for the 2017–18 season after ten years with Victoria, and he was a
member of the team that Queensland defeated in the Shield final that year. On
that occasion, he was named Player of the Match for his 108.
Wade returned to the Tasmanian team for the last round of games after serving
as an Australia white-ball player. He had only ever opened the batting once,
during a brief Test match against India in 2020–21. This was his first time
doing so in his Shield career.
In a match that Tasmania won by 57 runs early on the last day to secure their
spot in the championship, he scored 32 and 5 against Victoria. Tasmania will
play South Australia in Hobart in the final round of regular-season matches.
The crunch game of
the last round is between Victoria and Western Australia in Melbourne which
will decide who faces Tasmania in the final. Scott Boland is expected to be
released from the Test squad in New Zealand to play for Victoria.