Matthew Wade - GT - sportstiger

Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL

Gujarat Titans’ wicket-keeper and opening batter Matthew Wade has been charged for breach of IPL's Code of Conduct by the match referee because of his outburst after being dismissed against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede Stadium.

IPL Media Advisory released a statement about the offences committed by the Hobart-native. The statement said, “Matthew Wade from Gujarat Titans has been reprimanded for breaching the TATA Indian Premier League’s (IPL) Code of Conduct during his team’s match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.” 

“Mr Wade admitted to the Level 1 offence under Article 2.5 of the IPL Code of Conduct and accepted the sanction. For Level 1 breaches of the Code of Conduct, the Match Referee’s decision is final and binding.”

The 34-year-old was deemed LBW out on Glenn Maxwell’s bowling where the replays showed that there was a possibility of a slight deflection when the ball went past his bat. Wade was dispirited after the decision and had an outburst as he smashed his helmet on the floor and also threw his bat.

Despite Mathew Wade’s dismissal after scoring just 16 runs, the Titans batted comprehensively as they posted an at-par total of 168. But in the second innings, Gujarat was greeted by a thunderous Virat Kohli who smashed 73 runs in 54 balls as RCB won the game by eight wickets. Addressing the defeat, GT captain Hardik Pandya talked about how the team missed capitalizing on smaller opportunities that piled up and cost them the game. 

Pandya said, “We had just a par score. The ball was stopping here and there and we were happy with 168. We wanted to give Lockie the opportunity, but the wicket was holding a bit. So we wanted to go for bowlers who bowled slower ones and took pace off the ball. We pulled things back in the middle but the way Maxwell played, in the end, made us feel we were 10 runs short.”

“We are on the right track and we just need to look after losing back to back wickets. The learning is to make sure we don't do it in the playoffs. It is always good to score runs. The way the boys are gelling and the way we are going, it is a learning for the players,” he added.