SYDNEY: Matthew Wade was axed Wednesday for Australia’s Test series in South Africa after failing to fire against India, while under-pressure Tim Paine retained the captaincy.
Wade played all four games in the tense 2-1 home summer series loss to India, including two as makeshift opener in place of the injured David Warner.
But he managed just 173 from his eight innings, with some rash shots ultimately costing him his place in the side and seeing him replaced by Alex Carey as back-up wicketkeeper.
Instead, Wade will join Australia’s Twenty20 squad on their tour of New Zealand as vice-captain to the out-of-form Aaron Finch.
Australia are due to play three Tests in South Africa. The tour was originally scheduled for February and March, but the dates have yet to be locked in due to concerns over coronavirus.

Cricket Australia Wednesday reiterated its commitment to making the trip, with the Tests expected to take place in March or April.
The five-game T20 tour of New Zealand runs from February 22 to March 7, clashing with South Africa, meaning a host of players including Warner, Steve Smith and Pat Cummins were not available.
Wade was the main casualty from the India series, with the squad otherwise much the same.
Uncapped bowlers Sean Abbott, Michael Neser, and Mitchell Swepson are again included, with fellow quick Mark Steketee and Carey the only newcomers.
Carey’s inclusion was seen as significant, with the 29-year-old, who has excelled for Australia in limited overs internationals, tipped as a potential successor as captain to Paine, 36.
Paine had a sub-par series against India, particularly the last two Tests when he dropped a slew of chances and came under fire over his bowling changes, field placings and decisions on when to declare.
He was also fined for an expletive-laden rant at an umpire and forced to apologise after an ugly verbal tirade at India’s Ravi Ashwin, all of which put his captaincy under the microscope.
But National Selector Trevor Hohns insisted Paine was still the right man for the job.
“Tim Paine was excellent at number seven against India and as a batsman, wicketkeeper and captain still has much to offer in the Test arena,” he said.
Cricket Australia’s National Teams chief Ben Oliver also gave Paine his backing.
“Tim has the support of the team, the coach and everyone else at Cricket Australia and the result of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series has done nothing to diminish that,” he said.
“After a series that attracted so much global interest, it was inevitable there’d be scrutiny. But some of the commentary surrounding Tim and his position as Test captain has been wide of the mark.”
The absence of several T20 regulars opened the door for some fresh faces to make the trip to New Zealand, with three uncapped players in the squad including teenage leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha.
The other rookies are opener and gloveman Josh Philippe and fast bowler Riley Meredith.
Paceman Jhye Richardson and Jason Behrendorff and spinner Ashton Agar make their return to Australian colours after lengthy injury layoffs.
Test squad for South Africa: Tim Paine (capt), Pat Cummins, Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner
T20 squad for New Zealand: Aaron Finch (capt), Matthew Wade, Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Tanveer Sangha, D’Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa

BHOPAL: Uttarakhand athlete Reshma Patel marked her 10000m race walk debut with a national U-20 record en route to winning a gold medal to showcase her talent on Tuesday.
The 16-year-old Patel clocked 48 minutes 25.90 seconds in the event on the second day of the National Federation Cup Junior U-20 Athletics Championships at the TT Nagar Stadium.
She improved upon Priyanka Goswami‘s earlier national record time of 49:16.51 set in 2014.
Tamil Nadu’s national U-20 champion Jeswin Aldrin recorded a personal best of 7.51m with his opening effort to win long jump gold. Bhupendra Singh (Haryana) was second with 7.44m.
Kolhapur athlete Vikas Anand Khodke broke the meet record in the 110m hurdles, clocking 14.00 seconds in the final, winning by two-hundredths of a second from Usaid Khan of Uttar Pradesh.
Khodke clocked a better time than the national U-20 record with 13.80 seconds in the heats but the wind of 3.3m/s meant that J Surendhar’s mark of 13.92 seconds (Bengaluru, 2010) stood.
Madhya Pradesh’s Ikram Ali Khan fouled three of his six throws but his best effort of 55.07m earned him gold in the discus throw.

GALLE: England head coach Chris Silverwood on Tuesday said that the confidence of his side will go through the roof if they are able to defeat India in the upcoming four-match Test series.
India and England are set to lock horns in four Tests, three ODIs, and five T20Is. The first and second Test will be played in Chennai, beginning February 5.
“The one thing Australia has shown is India will be a difficult team to beat. It’s a great challenge for us. Do I think we can beat them? Yes. I always take the positive side of things. I think we can beat them, but we know it’s going to be a hard-fought contest. If we come out on top of this one, confidence again will go through the roof for us. I respect the fact they are a fine side with some really good players. We’re going to have to be at the top of our game,” said Silverwood during a virtual press conference.

“We are going there with our eyes open. We know it is going to be a tough challenge. We know they are an excellent team, especially in their own conditions, and we respect that. But I think it is an exciting challenge. We are in a good place. We are constantly growing. But we completely respect how big a challenge it is,” he added.
For the first two Tests against India, England management has decided to rest Jonny Bairstow. After the first Test, Jos Buttler would also return home. Former England players like Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen have said that England should play their best possible XI, rather than rotating their players.

Speaking about the rotation policy, Silverwood said: “We have got to look after our people. We are spending a lot of time locked in hotels and bio-secure bubbles and it is not easy. It is good we are being proactive. I am perfectly happy with the system at the moment. We have decided that we need to look after our players and I do believe we have been proactive. I would ask them to understand why we do what we do. It is in the best interest of each player and to get the most out of them, long-term.”

When asked whether Bairstow will come straight into the playing XI for the third Test against India, Silverwood replied: “Bairstow will come back into the group then the rest is down to selection. We don’t make any guarantees to anybody. I don’t think you can, you don’t know where you’ll be at any given time. I do think it’s right he has a rest. Jonny is very busy, a multi-format player and we’ve got to look after him, give him a bit of time at home to chill out. He did well – Jonny asked me the same question and I said he’d done very well. He went in during some difficult periods of the game and applied himself well on what we’re testing wickets. I was pleased with him.”

The England cricket team will depart for India from Sri Lanka on Wednesday and the side will be arriving in Chennai. The touring party will then quarantine for six days in the team hotel. Ben Stokes, Rory Burns and Jofra Archer have already arrived in Chennai and they have begun their quarantine period.
The practice for the full squad will commence for the first time on Tuesday, February 2. On Monday, England had defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets in the second Test to win the series 2-0. Joe Root was awarded both Man of the Match and Series for his impeccable form with the bat.
England squad for first two Tests against India: Joe Root (Yorkshire) (captain), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Dom Bess (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Rory Burns (Surrey), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Zak Crawley (Kent), Ben Foakes (Surrey), Dan Lawrence (Essex), Jack Leach (Somerset), Dom Sibley (Warwickshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), Olly Stone (Warwickshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire).
Reserves: James Bracey (Gloucestershire), Mason Crane (Hampshire), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Matthew Parkinson (Lancashire), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Amar Virdi (Surrey).