'Might stay away from it': Mathew Wade feels verbal duels with Virat Kohli and co. on-field can backfire
Australia wicketkeeper-batsman Mathew Wade said that he didn't want to engage in a sledging battle with the Indian team. Wade made into the Australian team as a wicketkeeper but with Tim Paine's emergence as the captain, the southpaw reclaimed his spot as a specialist batsman with the consistent show in domestic cricket.
Team India is scheduled to play four-match Test series against Australia Down Under in December this year. Wade, who is naturally an aggressive player, feels the on-field verbals might backfire against the Indian team led by Virat Kohli. (Also Read | 'Fortunate to play against each other': Kane Williamson opens up on friendship with Virat Kohli)
“They’re a hard team, they use it to their advantage very well,” Wade told reporters in a video call on Tuesday.
“Virat is very clever the way he uses his words or his body language. So they use it as an advantage now. To be honest, I don’t really want to engage too much into that.
“I know that they thrive off that energy that comes between two players. They’re probably as good at doing that as anyone in the world at the moment, so it’s something I might stay away from this time.”
Recently, former Australian captain Dean Jones reacted on Michael Clarke's claims of the Australian team sucking-up to Virat Kohli to save Indian Premier League contracts. Jones stood against Clarke's words and said the Australian team doesn't want to provoke Kohli and MS Dhoni as both of them like confrontation. (Also Read | Aakash Chopra picks India's Test and T20I teams if both sides played on same day)
"I will tell you the reason why they went quiet on Virat. Because we went quiet when Viv Richards came out to bat. We went quiet on Javed Miandad, on Martin Crowe. And there is a reason behind that -- You don't upset the bear, you don't upset Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni because this is what they like - a confrontation," Dean Jones said during an interaction on Sportscreen YouTube page.
"Don't give them any oxygen. But I find this reason about not upsetting Virat because of IPL contracts a bit rubbish. Is Virat going to stop anyone from playing? That is down to the coaches and managers," Jones said.
