Matthew Wade will not play the opening match of Gujarat Titans to play Shield final

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New Delhi. Australia’s veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade will miss Gujarat Titans’ (GT) opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to play the Sheffield Shield final for Tasmania.

Gujarat’s opening match of the 2024 IPL season will be against Mumbai Indians on March 24, which will clash with the Shield final to be held between March 21-25.

If the Shield final extends to the final day, Wade’s chances of featuring in GT’s second match against defending champions Chennai Super Kings on March 26 will be minimal.

Tasmania men’s team head coach Jeff Vaughan confirmed that Wade will be available for the Shield final. “He has spoken to his IPL franchise and they are happy to allow him to stay here, which is probably equivalent to him missing his first match,” cricket.com.au quoted Vaughan as saying.

“We feel very fortunate to have someone like Matt coming back to our group and to have his experience and performance at the end of our season,” he said.

Wade was part of the team that won the 2022 IPL Championship in the Titans’ first season of the competition, but he did not play the following season as Wriddhiman Saha preferred to wear the keeping gloves.

Wade will be joining the franchise for the third time this year after being bought for Rs 2.40 crore ahead of the inaugural campaign.

–IANS

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