Rookie gloveman Matthew Wade has declared he's in the form of his life in an ominous warning to under-fire veteran Brad Haddin.
Wade introduced himself to Australian cricket fans on Wednesday night with a swashbuckling 72 off 43 deliveries after opening the innings with David Warner, to set up a convincing 31-run victory over hapless India.
The Victorian-based 24-year-old will have another chance to impress in the second Twenty20 at the MCG on Friday and will also play in the first three ODIs of the upcoming Tri Series against Sri Lanka and India.
National Selector John Inverarity says the struggling Haddin, who will captain the Prime Minister's XI against Sri Lanka in Canberra on Friday, is being rested due to his heavy workload this summer.
But the veteran wicketkeeper is not convinced, claiming he has in fact been dropped in a radio interview earlier this week.
Wade's scintillating knock in front of a record 59,659 fans at ANZ Stadium, which included five fours and three sixes, will do little to calm Haddin's anxiety.
"Obviously I'm really happy I got the opportunity to open the batting, (coach) Mickey (Arthur) spoke to me yesterday, so obviously I was just happy to contribute and hopefully we can continue our form into Melbourne," a delighted Wade said after the match.
He added when asked if he's in the best batting form of his career: "I definitely feel that my batting's come along in the last couple of seasons, obviously working pretty close with (Bushrangers coach) Greg Shipperd back home (in Melbourne) and things are starting to come along."
"Especially in one-day cricket I feel my form's pretty good and obviously it's taken me a little bit more time to get used to Twenty20 but I feel like it's coming along now."
"I think I've just got a lot more confidence in my game, I just feel like my game's at a level where I can definitely compete at the highest level."
Asked if he believes his stunning knock is cause for concern for Haddin, Wade was understandably coy.
"No idea, I'm not sure what Hadds is doing and I'm concentrating on the stuff I can control obviously which is what I can do out in the middle, so I'm not too concerned about what's going on outside the cricket ground," Wade said.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni refused to be drawn into the Wade-Haddin debate but admits he's impressed by the young gloveman.
"He's good, he has done really well," Dhoni said of Wade.
"If you see his batting today he played shots all around the ground which is nice because keepers don't often get a chance to bat up the order."
"There's (Kiwi star Brendon) McCullum who opens but usually keepers are batting at four, five and six, so it's good to see him bat the way he did."