Glenn Maxwell has proved himself to be more than simply a late-order slogger with a coming-of-age innings for Australia.
Skipper George Bailey sang Maxwell’s praises after his match-changing knock of 92 off 77 balls in Wednesday’s washed-out fourth ODI against India in Ranchi showed the Twenty20 star has plenty to offer Australian cricket.
The 25-year-old Maxwell arrived at the crease with Australia in a deep hole at 4-71.
Young Indian seamer Mohammed Shami had the ball nipping about on a lively wicket, having rattled the stumps of Aaron Finch and Shane Watson and bounced Phil Hughes back to the sheds for good measure.
“From the moment Glenn Maxwell strode to the crease he made it look like a different wicket,” Bailey said.
“I think Maxy’s innings was absolutely superb.
“We’ve seen his hitting before and we’ve seen how he can take games away late in an innings.
“But to come in with the team under pressure, with the ball still doing a little bit, I thought he summed it up.
“He still hit the boundaries and sixes but he hit them off the balls that he needed to hit.
“He didn’t take any risks. they were smart shots in his areas.”
There were five sixes and six fours, but Maxwell appeared in control of his innings until it was ended by a lbw decision to Vinay Kumar.
Even consecutive switch-hit boundaries, the first of which sailed into the crowd, off Ravindra Jadeja fell into the ‘smart shot’ category.
“He practices (the switch hit) as much as I’ve ever seen anyone practice it,” Bailey said.
“No more so than I see Shane Watson practising the straight drive.
“If that’s a shot that he’s put the time into – and we’ve seen him put that time into it – then he has absolutely every right to play it.
“As long as the circumstances are right. I think the field that he had and the plan that he had was spot on. And he executed them both very well.”
Bailey (98) posted his third half century of the series, but said he was struggling to come to grips with the lively nature of the wicket early on.
Those nerves were calmed by Maxwell who took the fight to India, and alleviated the pressure on his skipper.
He attacked spinners Ravi Ashwin and Jadeja, hitting both for a pair of sixes, as Australia wrested back control of the match before rain denied them a shot at a 3-1 series lead.
“I was finding it a little bit tough out there so when you’ve got someone scoring at the pace he was, it put the pressure right back on India as well,” Bailey said.
“It was a great knock.”