Gujarat Titans also made a couple of changes to their coaching staff after Gary Kirsten’s exit last year following his appointment as Pakistan men’s team’s white-ball coach, a stint which didn’t last that long. The Titans will begin their IPL 2025 campaign against the Punjab Kings on March 25.
Gujarat Titans have appointed former Australian wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade, a T20 World Cup winner, as their assistant coach ahead of the 2025 edition of the IPL, who until last year was in the franchise’s dugout in the capacity of a player. Wade, who had a short career of 15 matches in the IPL, played 12 of them for the Titans across the last three seasons and was part of the title-winning squad in 2022 under Hardik Pandya‘s leadership.
“Champion. Fighter. Now our Assistant Coach! Welcome back to the GT Dugout, Matthew Wade!,” Gujarat Titans wrote on X (formerly Twitter) to formally announce Wade’s appointment, who transitioned into coaching swiftly after his retirement from international cricket last year. Wade, who played his last for Australia in the last year’s T20 World Cup, was part of Australia’s support staff for the T20Is against Pakistan and also for the ODIs in an unofficial capacity.
“I was fully aware my international days were most likely over at the end of the last T20 World Cup. My international retirement and coaching has been a constant conversation with George [Bailey] and Andrew [McDonald] over the past six months,” Wade had said after bringing his curtains down on his international career in October 2024. “Coaching has been on my radar over the last few years and thankfully some great opportunities have come my way, for which I am very grateful and excited.”
Wade, who recently won the Big Bash League (BBL) title for the Hobart Hurricanes, will continue to dabble in playing opportunities around the world but didn’t want to miss out on the coaching roles that came his way as he followed Kieron Pollard’s footsteps in joining his IPL team immediately after his career in the cash-rich league was over.
Wade will join the likes of Ashish Nehra, Vikram Solanki, Parthiv Patel and Ashish Kapoor as part of the support staff for the Titans ahead of IPL 2025 after Gary Kirsten left the franchise last season following his appointment as Pakistan’s white-ball coach, a stint which ended prematurely. The Titans have assembled a quality squad for the 18th edition of the IPL following the mega auction having included the likes of Jos Buttler, Mohammed Siraj, Kagiso Rabada, Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips and Ishant Sharma to the side while retaining skipper Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia and Sai Sudharsan.
The Titans with a new ownership, begin their IPL 2025 campaign on March 25 against the Punjab Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
