Wade: ‘It wasn’t easy to get the runs’

“The cracks are playing a huge role for the spinners as well as the quick bowlers. We will be looking to get a bit out of the cracks tomorrow and grab our opportunities,” he hoped.

Australia's Matthew Wade raises his bat after scoring fifty runs during the first day of the fourth Test against India in Dharamsala on Saturday.

 

From 144 for one to 300 all out, the Australian team would be disappointed with a below-par first innings total after electing to bat first. But Matthew Wade, who made a fighting 57 – the third highest score for the visiting team – insisted that wasn’t the case and that it wasn’t as easy to score as it appeared.

Match report

“From 140 for one, obviously you have to push on a bit after lunch but credit to the Indians — they bowled really well through the middle session. We had to find a way to grind out 300,” he said.

That middle session collapse was largely orchestrated by debutant Kuldeep Yadav, who picked up four big wickets including that of a well-set David Warner to end the second-wicket partnership. “It took a few balls to get used to. He bowled a lot of different deliveries and with a scrambled seam as well. But once you stayed there for a while, you get a read on him. We had a look at everyone before the start of the series so the boys were on top of what he was going to bowl,” Wade explained.

READ: Kuldeep Yadav’s dream debut

Praising captain Steve Smith, who got his third century of the series, Wade termed him to be the best player in the world. “You look at the scoreboard and before you know, he is on 50. It looks so easy for him but obviously it’s not. From outside, it looks like he is playing a different game. He is the best player in the world at the moment and he is on track to become one of the greatest players Australia has ever seen,” Wade declared.

He was also hopeful of his bowlers replicating India’s success. “The cracks are playing a huge role for the spinners as well as the quick bowlers. We will be looking to get a bit out of the cracks tomorrow and grab our opportunities,” he hoped.

He finally allowed himself a smile towards the end when asked about the difference in India’s captaincy under Ajinkya Rahane in the absence of Virat Kohli. “I feel they were very, very good; they were very calm and went about their work. They weren’t overexcited. It was no different, to be honest,” he said.