Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey criticised Matthew Wade for gifting his wicket away

Ricky Ponting and a few other cricket experts lashed out at Matthew Wade for playing a bad shot and gifting his wicket away. Wade was batting on 13 runs and had scored two boundaries before he tried to take on Ravindra Jadeja.

The wicket-keeper batsman tried to nick the ball over the mid-wicket area and could manage a leading-edge. However, Jasprit Bumrah, who was standing at mid-on, went back and took a relatively easy catch. Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting lashed out at Wade, stating that the batsman needs to be more aware of the match situation.

On the other hand, Green could not open his account after playing for 21 balls. Jasprit Bumrah grabbed his wicket plumb in front to end his stay in the middle.

Matthew Wade is simply giving his wicket away: Michael Hussey

In the same time, Hussey opines that Wade cannot think of throwing his wicket away through low-percentage shots. Waugh also stated that the left-hander should be waiting for loose balls to put away. He should not try to manufacture shots of good balls.

One more commentator, Kerry O’Keefe, also mentioned how Wade gave away his wicket in a similar manner to Ravi Ashwin during the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

In the first innings of the SCG Test, the hosts were bowled out 338.  Steve Smith smashed a 226-ball 131 which also included 16 fours. Also, Marnus Labuschagne’s 91 guided the hosts through. His 196-ball innings had 11 boundaries, and nobody else deserved a three-figure score more than him.

In response, the Indian side started off with a solid start. The new opening duo of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill added 70 runs between them. Just then it looked like the visitors would finish the day way ahead. But the Australian pacers struck to send back both the opening pair.

Rohit was out on 26 and Gill went on to score his maiden Test half-century. The duo stitched a much-needed opening stand of 70 runs. When the day’s play ended Cheteshwar Pujara along with his captain Ajinkya Rahane were unbeaten for 9 and 5 respectively. Talking about India’s bowling department, Ravindra Jadeja picked up 4 wickets. Bumrah and Saini managed to claim two wickets each. Pujara and Rahane will open the innings Day 3. With 96/2 onboard, the visitors are trailing by 242 runs.

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