'If you had have told me then (he would captain Australia), I certainly wouldn't have believed you, but this game moves fast and sometimes things happen that are quite unexpected and that's exactly what's happened in this scenario.'
Australia wicket-keeper batsman Matthew Wade on Monday said that it feels like that he has restarted his career over the last three years.
Wade had led Australia in the second T20I of the three-match series against India as regular skipper Aaron Finch sat out of the match due to an injury.
The left-handed batsman was dropped from Australia's Test and T20 sides on the eve of the 2017-18 Ashes.
He then scored a huge amount of runs in the 2018-19 season for Tasmania and the Hobart Hurricanes, and as a result, he made his way back into Australia's squad for the 2019 Ashes, in which he played all five Tests and scored two centuries.
"Yes, I'm 32, and I've been around a long time, but I see myself as a completely different player. Matthew Wade, the guy that played as wicketkeeper-batter, is a completely different player than the one that's been playing the last three years. I almost feel like I restarted my career a couple of years ago, debuting at 30," cricket.com.au quoted Wade as saying.
"No different to guys like 'Hadds' (Brad Haddin) and Mike Hussey, those kinds of guys. Age is always spoken about when you get to my age and that's the nature of the beast. Every game I play for Australia is one that I didn't think I'd get and whether that's my last game or whether I'll play another 50, that doesn't faze me too much, to be honest," he added.
Talking about leading Australia in the second T20I against India, Wade replied: "If you had have told me then (he would captain Australia), I certainly wouldn't have believed you, but this game moves fast and sometimes things happen that are quite unexpected and that's exactly what's happened in this scenario."
"There's plenty of guys that could have done it on the ground at the time which made it a lot easier for me. But yeah, I'm really proud and honoured to captain my country," he added.
Asked about Smith, who lost the captaincy role because of his role in the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, Wade said the team has a lot of options and they include the batting star.
"We have so many good leaders, I have been given the captaincy but we have got Smith, we have got Moises (Henriques), who captains his BBL team. We have guys with a lot of experience, there is a lot of discussions among the seniors but we are all working together," Wade said.
"It is not me driving the field, obviously Finchy (Aaron Finch) is our captain and we all all work together when he plays well. So Smith has a plenty of say, he has been a great captain for long time and he will do a great job if he gets an opportunity," he added.
Wade was run out after India skipper Virat Kohli dropped a sitter during the second T20I. Talking about the dismissal, Wade said he deserved to be dismissed at that point.
"I saw Virat fumble the first time but then I didn't see the ball coming out the second time, I thought he must have caught him ... once I saw the second one go in, I started to walk off. Smith actually called out to me but it was too late. I should have been out anyway," he said.
Talking about Australia's preparation for next year's T20 World Cup, Wade said: "...we haven't probably finished well with the ball over the last couple of games.
"We have got good players. Unfortunately, didn't have guys like (Mitchell) Starc and (Josh) Hazlewood last night, which would hurt any international team. We are probably mixing around the line-up, the top six at the moment, to find the right mix for the World Cup.
"You will start to see a more settled line-up six months before the World Cup."
Australia are dealing with a spate of injuries with David Warner in doubt for the first Test, while Starc pulled out of the T20 series due to illness in family. Pat Cummins was rested for the limited-overs series as part of workload management.
However, Wade said they will have enough time to regroup ahead of the first Test beginning on December 17.
"We have a big break between the last T20 and first Test anyway so we have got plenty of opportunity to gel together, that won't be an issue," he said.
