Glenn Maxwell dropped due to lack of consistency: David Saker

Glenn Maxwell was dropped from 4th ODI against India. (Source: PTI)

The Steve Smith-led Australian team put a halt on India’s winning streak on Thursday in Bangalore after beating them in the fourth ODI of the five-match series by 21 runs. Australia dropped Glenn Maxwell for this ODI and their stand-in coach David Saker explained the reason that the batsman isn’t in the greatest of form.

“We were looking for people to perform, and in his [Maxwell] last 20 games, he probably hasn’t done that for us. In his position, the way he plays, he’s a big match winner. But it’s been a while he’s done that for us, especially in any consistent form,” explained Saker after Australia’s win in Bangalore.

Wicket-keeper batsman Matthew Wade was picked in the XI for this Bangalore encounter as he replaced Maxwell.

“We really wanted Wade to keep through the series but we made that change the game before but Mattsy [Wade] just has to get some numbers to justify getting picked,” said Saker.

Earlier, Steve Smith won the toss and elected to bat first. Openers David Warner and Aaron Finch didn’t disappoint their skipper and hammered the Indian bowlers all over the park. Warner went on to score his 14th ODI ton in his 100th appearance for Australia in ODI format while Finch missed out by just 6 runs. For India it was Umesh Yadav who returned with figures of 4/71 in 10 overs.

The Indian openers Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma gave India a good start after the two stitched a partnership of 106 runs for the first wicket. Later, Rohit Sharma became a victim of mix-up in the middle with Virat Kohli and got dismissed while captain Kohli followed his deputy soon. India then lost wickets at regular intervals and fell short of the total by 21 runs.

Australia though have already lost the series after they were defeated in the third ODI at Indore’s Holkar stadium to give India an unassailable 3-0 lead.