Matthew Wade played T20 World Cup final with grade two side strain

Australian wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade has revealed that he played the grand finale of the 2021 T20 World Cup against New Zealand with a grade two side strain. The 33-year-old injured his side at training the day before the all-important game in Dubai. 

"I was a little bit worried the night before the game, for sure. If I had have woken up and I couldn't swing the bat, I wouldn't have played. I was worried that if we'd batted first and I had to go as hard as I could and I tore it then, I wouldn't be able to keep and that would hurt the team a lot," he said.

"But in my mind, they would have had to strap me to the bed. I was always going to go out there and play. But I wouldn't have played if there was a chance it was going to hurt the team. I went and hit some balls before the game and bluffed my way through that. Then they made me hit a few more, but I got through it and it felt pretty fine."

It was Wade who smoked 41* off 17 deliveries to lead Australia to a stunning victory in the semi-final against Pakistan. The left-handed batter smashed Shaheen Afridi for three consecutive sixes in the penultimate over to win the game for Australia. Wade said he tried to hide his discomfort during training but Glenn Maxwell caught his bluff.

"The way he was gingerly hitting underarms (in the warm-ups)... I said 'what's going on here? Hit the ball harder!'," Maxwell said. "And he said, 'I've got a side strain'. I didn't even know."

Australian captain Aaron Finch said he was genuinely concerned about Wade’s availability ahead of the big encounter. “There was always a little bit of a fear," Finch said.

“The doctor forced him into a scan. He didn't want to know the result, but I knew... and being a grade two tear in his side, it was going to be tough. But if anyone was going to play, it would have been him. You would have had to cut his leg off."

"I thought he kept brilliantly (in the final). Towards the backend, I saw him in a bit of pain with a couple of dives and throws. But he was never missing that."

Wade also revealed that he is planning to retire from international cricket after next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia.

“That'll be my next motivation - hopefully get to that World Cup, defend the title and then I can sail off into the sunset. I certainly won't be playing (international cricket) beyond that point. That would be my goal from here.”