Australia’s tour of India suffered another jolt as visitors lost to India by nine wickets via Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method in the first T20I at Ranchi. Australians on this tour have found no momentum and their game has regressed very badly with each game. The mongrel and the aggression associated with the Australian side is nowhere to be seen and this team could be counted as the weakest to tour India.
Glenn James Maxwell’s career is at crossroads and he himself doesn’t know where his career is heading? The talented Aussie all-rounder is having a horrendous tour of India and again, in the first T20I at Ranchi, he scored a paltry 17 before getting out to his good friend Yuzvendra Chahal. This was the fourth time that he got out to the wrist spinner while playing an attacking short. The rate at which Maxwell is failing is alarming and it begs the question whether he is learning anything from his mistakes or his ego is coming in the way.
Cricket is a simple game and all the greats and giants of the game did the basics right to achieve results and stayed in the present. Maxwell is a quality player, but sometimes his brain explodes and does some very stupid things. Like after hitting couple of sixes in an over, the batsman should ideally rotate the strike and take a breather. Any batsman, to score a hundred, will take time and very rarely you score a hundred in 40 odd balls. Maxwell doesn’t give himself time to adjust to the conditions, bowling and from outside it looks like that he is in some sort of hurry.
Australian team is unlike of the past teams, where it had legends and superstars and could carry a player like Maxwell, while being out of form. This team is struggling and Maxwell has to understand that team always comes first and you have to play according the situation and cannot offer the lame excuse of this is how I play and this is my natural game. Maxwell is hugely talented and just has to apply his mind and make better decisions under pressure. The numbers of this Victorian all-rounder proves that with average of less than 40 in all the formats, he has highly underachieved at the international level. This is the same player who during the 2015 World Cup scored a 100 off 51 balls against Sri Lanka at Sydney and in 2016 scored his maiden Test hundred at Ranchi against India, proving that he is extremely talented and savvy and knows about his game.
Also read: India defeat Oz in first T20
Glenn Maxwell is a confidence player and the management has been guilty of dropping him after couple of failures. It has to show some kind of affection and tell him that they value his presence. Maxwell has a good cricketing brain on his shoulders and the penny has to drop. Maxwell has to make the transition from an attacking player to a calm and consistent player, who can win matches for Australia on a regular basis and be counted as a real match-winner.
International cricket is cut throat and time is running out for Maxwell to make an impact. The Aussie has to take stock of situation and has to nail the basics in order to improve his game. He has to bat rationally and only after he is set should he go after the bowling and, most importantly, has to value his wicket. Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi was also a talented and maverick cricketer, but ended up as a mediocre cricketer. Maxwell with the talent he possesses has to act quickly to rectify mistakes and prove that he is serious about his cricket to make the requisite changes.
