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Australians name Wade skipper for Bangladesh T20I series

The 33-year-old Wade takes the captain's arm-band for the second time in his career

Australians name Wade skipper for Bangladesh T20I series PHOTO: AFP

Matthew Wade has been named captain for Australia's five-match Twenty20 series against Bangladesh, which starts in Dhaka on Tuesday. Wade replaces regular captain Aaron Finch after he returned to Australia to undergo surgery on a knee injury sustained in the Caribbean last month.

The 33-year-old Wade takes the captain's arm-band for the second time in his career having previously led the team during the second Twenty20 meeting with India in Australia in December. "I'm going to be wicketkeeping, so the distance between bowler and myself is a lot greater," said Wade of the challenge he faces leading the team.

"That means that there's a lot more responsibility on the individual, the bowler and the senior players around that to help me out around the ground. "When you're coming in and taking over from someone it's just giving the ability for those guys to take ownership of their game and at the top of the mark, they need to execute."

Regular vice-captain Pat Cummins is one of several senior players not on the tour as the Australians ramp up their preparations for October's Twenty20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Alex Carey took over from Finch as captain of the one-day side during the 2-1 series win over the West Indies and Wade believes his experience can lift Australia's youthful batting line-up after losing the Twenty20 series in the Caribbean.

"Where my leadership might come in a little more is with our batting group," he said. "We've probably got a younger batting group than we've had on these tours, not a lot of international experience between all our batters.

"The bowling takes care of itself with guys like (Adam) Zampa, (Mitchell) Starc and (Josh) Hazelwood – they've all played a lot of cricket together and they can take care of themselves."