Matthew Wade, the Australian wicketkeeper batter, has announced his retirement from international cricket on Tuesday. However, he will join the men's team's coaching unit from the upcoming T20 series against Pakistan.

Matthew Wade career

Matthew Wade played 225 matches for Australia, featuring in 36 test matches, 97 one-day internationals, and 92 T20 internationals for Australia. He last played the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies in 2024.

Not only that, he played a crucial role in Australia's T20 World Cup victory in 2021 in Dubai.

Wade' Retirement

The 36-year-old Matthew Wade ended his 13-year long playing career.

"I'm officially retiring," Wade, who retired from first-class cricket last summer, was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au. "It's been an ongoing discussion for pretty much every tour or every World Cup that I've been on in the last three or four years.

"It's been a really fluent conversation that I've had with George (Bailey, chief selector) and Ronnie (coach Andrew McDonald) over the last six months or since the last World Cup finished. Even leading into the last World Cup, we've been really open and had really great communication around where I'm at with my career.

"If we went into the last World Cup and I managed to get some runs and we won that, then things would look maybe a little different and maybe I'd keep going... it was just kind of an understanding from all of us," Wade added.

36 Test matches. 97 ODIs. 92 T20 Internationals.

Congratulations to Matthew Wade on an outstanding international cricket career! pic.twitter.com/SDWl1OhqZC

— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) October 29, 2024

Matthew Wade in coaching

Matthew Wade will kick off his coaching career with the national team from its upcoming outing in the T20 Series against Pakistan. He will travel under the leadership of Andre Borovec.

Later, the team will regroup for the ODI Series, which starts in Melbourne next week.

Wade, however, is not new to coaching. He has been in this role during the winter while coaching the Tasmanian youth and second XI.

Well, Wade will continue playing for his Big Bash League side, the Hobart Hurricanes, for at least the next two summers.

Also, he will continue playing for his domestic team, Tasmania.

There are speculations that cricket competition in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics may get shifted to the East Coast of the United States. The aim is to draw in more traffic, especially from India for the newly added sport.

Not only that, the US seems to have more demand due to the growing popularity of their domestic cricket, according to the host committee chair, Casey Wasserman.

Cricket is not new in the Olympics. However, it has been 128 years since cricket was sidelined. In the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the T20 format of the game will be played. However, the venue is yet to be confirmed.

How will it benefit the Indians?

The time difference between Los Angeles and India is almost 12 and a half hours. That means a match starting at around PDT 10 am is available to the Indians at IST 10:30 pm

On the other side, the East Coast is 9 and a half hours behind India. This means that a match that starts around EST (Eastern Daylight Time) at 10 am will be easily broadcast to the Indians at around 10:30 pm.

Earlier, both the men's and the women's tournaments were assigned to the West Coast. But keeping in mind the pros and cons, especially for the Indian Cricket fans, the East Coast may get the hosting responsibilities.

Moreover, New York on the East Coast has some experience in hosting cricket matches. Earlier this year, they arranged several preliminary-round matches of the T20 World Cup, cohosted by West Indies.

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Why is India important?

India holds the biggest cricket market. Not only that, the International Olympic Committee acknowledged how the popularity of Virat Kohli had made them include cricket in the Olympics.

Niccolo Campriani, the Director of the Olympics, told officially, "Virat Kohli is the main influence for adding cricket to the Olympics."

The Delhi batter has almost 314 million followers across his social media handles, making him the third-most followed athlete in the world. Kohli has more followers on social media than basketball legend LeBron James, rugby stalwart Tom Brady, and golf icon Tiger Woods combined.

According to Sportico, Wasserman had said that they are aiming for "more than USD 150 million in savings and new revenue to help maintain a balanced budget (for the Olympics)."

Grabbing more Indian fans with the added advantage of pre-furnished stadiums will help the committee in achieving so.

The three venues that hosted the T20 World Cup in the US, which India won to break the title drought, were Dallas, Fort Lauderdale, and a temporary stadium built on Long Island outside New York City.

New sports added

Apart from cricket, sports like baseball, softball, flag football, squash, and lacrosse, have been added to the LA28 Olympic roster. Olympics have gotten back the previous elegance of the 1990s,

However, shifting matches from the core venue is not unique. During the Paris Olympics, surfing was hosted in Tahiti. Marseille hosted sailing and shooting was held in Chateauroux. Soccer was played throughout the country.

Harshit Rana who was selected in India's senior team squad against Australia has early struggles with injuries.

On October 25, BCCI announced the squad for the Border Gavaskar Trophy, which includes Harshit Rana's name. The 22-year-old fast bowler had earned the limelight after a stellar season in the 2024 Indian Premier League for KKR, is now tying his laces for the maiden call test call.

Earlier he toured with the senior team in the T20I series against Zimbabwe. He was a part of the team in the home series against Bangladesh. Not only that, he was on the reserved bench in the test series against New Zealand.

With the call against Australia, it's high time to count days for his debut in the whites anytime soon.

Harshit Rana faced injury before he was 20

Harshit Rana is on the cusp of a promising career as he gears up for India’s five-match Test tour of Australia. Despite a meteoric rise, Rana has faced considerable setbacks due to injuries. By the age of 20, he had already endured multiple stress fractures, sidelining him from the sport for extended periods.

Initially, it was his back, then it was his groin, then his calf and a niggle in the shoulder. His father Pradeep Rana informed that he took Harshit to many hospitals and even to an Ayurveda facility in Najafgarh. 

When playing cricket looked impossible, it was the inspiration Harshit drew from Navdeep Saini who bowled with his injured groin. Moreover, the 2020-21 Australia tour played a huge role in fuelling Harshit Rana's courage.

A bruised team battled to the winning position in the 2020-21 Australia tour. The injured duo Vihari and Ashwin who batted throughout ensuring a draw at Sydney, and Cheteswar Pujara who took 11 blows on his body at Gabba inspired him more than anyone can imagine.

Harshit Rana dedicates his maiden test call to his Father

Harshit Rana's Pradeep Rana, who once represented CRPF in hammer throw has never left his side. The senior Rana would pull him out of sleep at 4 am, to make him watch India playing in Australia on television.

His father made it a morning routine in winter, in Delhi for a six-year-old Harshit Rana. He even threw tantrums because he wanted to continue sleeping.

It was Pradeep Rana who knocked on all possible doors to keep his son fit for the game. He not only visited doctors but read articles, watched videos and tried applying everything to help his son play on the big stage.

In an interview with the Indian Express, Harshit said, "he told me that it was okay even if I don’t become a professional cricketer. Whatever I am today, it is because of my father.”

The Journey of Shedding 17 Kilograms

During the 2023-24 period, he suffered from a hamstring injury. As a result, he missed that entire session of the Ranji Trophy. 

From November 2023 to the pre-IPL period, he worked hard on his fitness shedding 17 kilograms. This significant weight loss not only improved his performance but also helped him remain injury-free for the next seven months, a crucial period leading to his maiden Test call-up.

Harshit credits the Indian team management for monitoring his workload as he focuses on playing across all formats—Tests, ODIs, and T20s. 

The Indian Men's Cricket Team have already lost their series to New Zealand after losing the first two tests. With that, India's home test series wins ended. However, India still tops the list with 18 home series wins.

The 18th win came against Bangladesh after a 2-0 whitewash against them.

Here's the list of the top five teams with the most consecutive Test series wins at home

India leads the chart with 18 series wins, followed by Australia twice in the list, having 10 wins each time. 

New Zealand | 8

New Zealand, standing 5th in the table, has 8 home series wins to their name. Starting from December 2017 to January 2021. The team led by Kane Williamson had a perfect combination with the likes of Tim Southee, Trent Boult, and Ross Taylor, perfectly complementing the spin-friendly pitches, allowing the team to capitalize on the home advantage.

West Indies | 8

Once a terror in World Cricket, the time span of West Indian dominance in test cricket clearly defines the legacy of the team.

The Clive Lloyd-led team, having shoulders of greats like Viv Richards and bowling legend Malcolm Marshall, had its winning streak of 8 series at home from March 1976 to February 1986.

Australia | 10 each

Another ruling team in World Cricket that successfully carried forward their once-created legacy is Australia. Australia is in the chart twice, having 10 consecutive home series wins.

The first phase started from October 1994 to November 2000. A little gap in between, and then the winning streak continued from July 2004 to November 2008.

India | 18

After the Kanpur test win against Bangladesh, for the first time after 92 years of Test cricket history, India had more test wins than losses.

Not only that, India's series winning streak at home increased to 18, making it an undisputed contender amongst the world giants.

After a 10-wicket defeat against Scotland in the 2027 World Cup Qualifier, Stuart Law has been sacked from his position as the Head Coach of the USA National Men's national cricket team

Dismissal of the former Australian cricketer was an inevitable outcome of the rough start in the World Cup League 2 series in Dallas. There, the USA scored just 144 runs, losing all wickets in the opener at Grand Prairie Stadium. Scotland’s Andrew Umeed scored 98*, chasing down the target within 24.5 overs .

The defeat to Scotland compounded recent challenges for the team, which entered the match after a 3-0 T20 series defeat to Nepal.

Statement from USA cricket

USA Cricket released a statement that said, "USA Cricket announced the departure of Men’s National Team Head Coach Stuart Law today."

It also added, "Law was appointed to the position in April and led the team during the USA's historic performance at this year’s T20 World Cup, where the team advanced to the Super 8 in its inaugural World Cup appearance."

The CEO of USA Cricket Johnathan Atkeison acknowledged Law's contribution to the team and accepted that it wasn't an easy decision for the board.

“Given Stuart’s contribution to the program, this was not an easy decision to make,” said Atkeison. “Unfortunately, we felt that a change was necessary for the next phase of competitive preparation.”

Stuart Law sacked despite of 2024 T20 World Cup's remarkable run

In April, Stuart Law got a three-year contract as the head coach of the team. With Law's coaching, the USA has a remarkable campaign in the 2024 T20 World Cup, a tournament hosted by them and co-hosted by the West Indies.

The team registered a historic win against Pakistan in Dallas. Not only that, they reached the Super 8s, which had sparked thoughts of them as a probable top 4.

Stuart Law had however coached countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, West Indies, and Afghanistan. With USA seeing a sudden upsurge under his coaching, a sudden fall in the team's result has abrupt ended his coaching tenure with the team.

The One Day Cup in Australia has experienced one of the craziest collapses in the Western Australia vs. Tasmania match at Perth. The star-studded squad of Western Australia crumbled down to just 53 runs, that too losing 8 wickets in the last 1 run.

Western Australia vs Tasmania match registers a Record-Breaking Downfall

Western Australia was going through a disaster management period while having a stable score of 52-2 unless the real disaster hit them. Within just 20.1 overs, the team's entire batting lineup shattered, with the score reaching 53.

I reckon duck might be on the menu tonight in Perth for the Tasmanians. #WAvTAS #OneDayCup pic.twitter.com/RfiIc2VvpR

— Lachlan McKirdy (@LMcKirdy7) October 25, 2024

All the middle-order batsmen from the team were dismissed without scoring. The only run that came during the collapse was due to a wide delivery.

This unprecedented collapse saw them record the second-lowest score in One-Day Cup history, only behind South Australia’s 51 runs in 2003. 

This remarkable turn of events set a new record for the worst eight-wicket collapse in Australian domestic cricket.

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Lowest team totals in Australian domestic one-day cup

51 - South Australia vs TAS in Hobart, 2003

53 - Western Australia vs TAS in Perth, 2024

59 - Western Australia vs VIC in Melbourne, 1969

59 - CA XI vs NSW in Sydney, 2015

Stars in Trouble: The Players’ Dismal Performance

The catastrophic defeat's courtesy goes to star players such as Hilton Cartwright, Ashton Turner, and Jhye Richardson, who all went for ducks.

D’Arcy Short was the highest scorer in the team, with 22 runs, with Cameron Bancroft the only other player to reach double figures.

Tasmania’s Beau Webster was the standout performer, claiming 6 wickets for just 17 runs, and Billy Stanlake contributed with 3 wickets for 12 runs. 

Tasmania’s Quick Victory: A Record Chase

Thanks to Western Australia’s historic collapse, Tasmania registers the record for fastest runs chased in the Australian domestic one-day.

Chasing down 54 runs in just 8.3 overs, Tasmania won the match by seven wickets. 

Fastest successful run chases in Australian domestic one-day cup

51 balls - Tasmania vs WA in Perth, 2024

67 balls - Victoria vs CA XI in Sydney, 2015

91 balls - Western Australia vs TAS in Brisbane, 2014

102 bals - Western Australia vs NSW in Perth, 2022