Stand-in skipper Matthew Wade and former skipper Steve Smith in action during the 2nd T20I (AP)Matthew Wade was Australia’s stand-in T20 skipper on Monday as India won the 2nd T20I to seal the series, but one persistent question from the match has been why the captaincy was not handed to Steve Smith in regular captain Aaron Finch’s absence.
Wade himself said after the match Smith, who has “plenty of say” in how the team is driven on the field, would do a “great job” if he is given the leadership role again.
Speaking to Fox Sports, Australia head coach Justin Langer said: “Matty Wade was the vice-captain, Steve Smith has done a brilliant job in the past, there is a process probably to go through till he becomes captain again. We’ll go through that. He is doing all the right things to show leadership without a title at the moment.”
Asked about Smith, who lost the captaincy role because of his role in the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, Wade said the team has a lot of options, including Smith.
“We have so many good leaders, I have been given the captaincy but we have got Smith, we have got Moises (Henriques), who captains his BBL team. We have guys with a lot of experience, there is a lot of discussions among the seniors but we are all working together,” Wade said.
“It is not me driving the field, obviously Finchy (Aaron Finch) is our captain and we all all work together when he plays well. So Smith has a plenty of say, he has been a great captain for long time and he will do a great job if he gets an opportunity,” he added.
On being handed the captaincy, Wade said, “…this game moves fast and sometimes things happen that are quite unexpected and that’s exactly what’s happened in this scenario.”
“There’s plenty of guys that could have done it on the ground at the time which made it a lot easier for me.”
(With PTI inputs)