Gujarat Titans (GT) wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade on Monday (March 28) made a comeback in Indian Premier League (IPL) after a long absence of 3964 days, recording the longest gap between two appearances in the league's history.
Previously, Wade had played his last IPL game in 2011 edition for Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) against now-defunct Pune Warriors.
Previous record holder
Earlier, the unique record belonged to South Africa’s Colin Ingram, who had made a return to IPL after a long gap of 2864 days. Ingram had played for the Delhi franchise against Pune Warriors back in 2011. After an absence of eight years, he played in the 2019 edition when he donned the Delhi Capitals (DC) jersey against Mumbai Indians (MI).
Wade's performance on return
On March 29, Wade played a solid innings of 30 runs off 29 balls for the Hardik Pandya-led side. The Gujarat-based franchise secured a five-wicket win against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their maiden IPL game.
The Aussie wicketkeeper-batter's innings was comprised of four boundaries. Eventually, his innings came to an end after LSG bowler Deepak Hooda dismissed him in the 12th over of the run chase. He shared a crucial 47-run partnership for the third wicket with skipper Hardik after Titans were reduced to 15/2 in the third over.
In the first innings, he was in action straightaway as Mohammed Shami forced an outside edge off LSG skipper KL Rahul's bat on the first ball of the innings which landed in Wade's gloves.
The left-handed batter was roped in for Rs 2.4 crore in the mega auction. Punjab Kings (PBKS) were interested in his services but did not bid further.
