Australia wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade will miss the first two matches of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. The Gujarat Titans batter has chosen to represent Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield final from March 21 to 25. Wade has made his plans clear to Gujarat Titans, who will begin their campaign on March 24.

The 16th edition of the IPL will get underway from March 22 with defending champions Chennai Super Kings taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore in a high-profile opener at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Gujarat Titans, who will be led by Shubman Gill, will take on Mumbai Indians in their high-profile opening match on March 24 in Ahmedabad. Wade’s absence will not have a big impact on the team’s chances, considering the limited role the veteran wicketkeeper played in the two seasons with the 2022 champions. Wade played 10 matches in their victorious season in 2022, but did not play a single game for the Titans last year despite having been with the squad in India.

Tasmania head coach Jeff Vaughan expressed delight in Wade’s availability in the domestic red-ball tournament final. Gujarat will next play Chennai Super Kings in Chennai on March 26 in a repeat of last year’s final.

“He’s spoken with his IPL franchise and they’re happy to allow him to stay here, which probably equates to him potentially missing their first game,” Tasmania head coach Jeff Vaughan told reporters in Hobart.

”We feel very fortunate to have someone of Matt’s ilk coming back into our group, and his experience and his performances at the back end of our season,” said Vaughan.

OTHER WICKETKEEPING OPTIONS FOR GT

Gujarat Titans are likely to go in with Wriddhiman Saha as their wicketkeeper at the start of the IPL 2024 season. They also have Jharkhand’s big-hitting Robin Minz, who was bought for Rs 3.6 crore by the Titans in the IPL 2024 auction.

GUJARAT TITANS SQUAD IPL 2024

David Miller, Shubman Gill (c), Matthew Wade, Wriddhiman Saha, Kane Williamson, Abhinav Manohar, B. Sai Sudharsan, Darshan Nalkande, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, Sai Kishore, Rashid Khan, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma, Azmatullah Omarzai, Umesh Yadav, Shahrukh Khan, Sushant Mishra, Kartik Tyagi, Manav Suthar, Spencer Johnson, Robin Minz.

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