T20 World Cup: Glenn Maxwell relives his Afghanistan ODI World Cup double century epic ahead of T20 clash
Glenn Maxwell’s stunning 201 not out at last year’s ODI World Cup still haunts Afghanistan. Ahead of their T20 World Cup rematch, BEN HORNE chats to Maxwell and Rashid Khan about the rematch.
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Rashid Khan admits he still has nightmares about Glenn Maxwell’s superhuman double ton, as the Sandman plots to haunt Afghanistan dreams again at the T20 World Cup.
Australia is bracing for the most treacherous pitch it will face in this tournament against spin specialists Afghanistan in St Vincent on Sunday morning AEST, but Maxwell says the tougher the conditions the more he feels he can rise to the challenge.
Maxwell’s remarkable 201 not out to save Australia’s bacon at last year’s ODI World Cup will go down as one of the greatest – if not the most remarkable white ball innings of all time – as the batting phenomenon defied the fact his body was completely shutting down to deliver an innings for the ages without even being able to move his legs.
Afghanistan linchpin and BBL superstar Rashid, admits he is still traumatised by Maxwell’s 128-ball freak show when Australia was seven down and on the verge of a World Cup-crushing defeat.
It is a feat which will never be repeated, and Rashid and his teammates must overcome it if they’re to stop Australia booking a place in the T20 World Cup semi-finals at their expense.
“Don’t remind me. The whole body goes like this whenever I think about that game,” Rashid told the ICC.
“At night sometimes when I go to sleep, sometimes I do think about that game. It just comes in the mind.
“ … Sometimes when I think about that game, my body just changes – because we were right there getting them 7-90 chasing 296. It teaches you a lot … there was a lot of learning for us.”
Maxwell was robbed of a golden chance to rediscover his rhythm when rain prematurely halted his charge against Bangladesh in Australia’s first World T20 Super 8s victory on Friday morning, and is determined to give cricket fans something new to drool over after a patch of indifferent form.
But the 34-year-old is adamant he has felt good all tournament regardless of his indifferent lead-in in the IPL.
Maxwell is inundated with people on a daily basis wanting to praise him for his Afghanistan heroics last year, but the No. 4 destroyer is determined to unleash a fresh highlights reel in this World Cup and qualify Australia for a World Cup semi-final.
“They (punters) haven’t had a lot else to talk about in the last few months,” concedes Maxwell, who says his overriding memory of that extraordinary Afghanistan double ton was the extreme physical pain he suffered during and after.
“I do find a lot of people will come up and say, ‘that innings during the World Cup (was great)’, which is nice. It’s nice to be able to touch and affect so many people and hopefully you inspire people to want to play the game.
“Hopefully if you play an innings like that, it can inspire the next generation.”
On this level, Maxwell will go down as an all-time great.
In the last decade, there is no player who has inspired more kids to play cricket in Australia than Maxwell.
The king of the kids is mimicked on junior cricket grounds across the country and Maxwell believes he can write a new chapter on Sunday morning AEST if conditions in St Vincent are as extreme as what’s being anticipated.
“I probably enjoy it when it’s a bit tough,” Maxwell said.
“I think your skill can shine through on those tougher wickets.
“It’s not as easy as swinging through the line all the time. You’ve got to be smart and pretty adaptive to what’s in front of you.
“The difference sometimes between 110 and 135 in some of those kind of conditions, I feel like that’s where I can have my biggest impact.”
Test great Ricky Ponting said before Maxwell’s crisp 14 not out off six balls against Bangladesh, that he would seriously consider dropping the Victorian a place down the order and promoting the in-form Marcus Stoinis.
Ponting’s reasoning is it could simplify the game for Maxwell and set him loose around the 12-14 over mark when he can pin the ears back and go for broke, and at the same time put Stoinis closer to the top where he prefers.
Maxwell, however, feels like he is back in touch.
“Yeah as much as you can in six balls,” Maxwell, said of his confidence-boosting cameo against Bangladesh.
“It was nice to get out there and hit a couple. I’ve said it pretty consistently I’ve felt good throughout the whole tournament, probably just haven’t quite nailed the starts.
“(Against Bangladesh) I started really clean and switched on.
“I just went in with a really clear mindset to be a little bit more proactive and a bit more trusting in my foundations and what I do really well.
“I know I reverse well, I know I play spin well when I’m busy on my feet and moving forward and back.
“When I’m just looking at gaps in the field and adapting to what comes in front of me I can get into an innings relatively comfortably.
“Just thinking back, I think I might have even got sucked into a little bit of the pace of play in the IPL where you set up as a power hitter and that’s all your focus goes towards and you’re thinking more about hitting the boundaries every ball instead of still playing your strengths.
“(Against Bangladesh) I went back to what I do really well, which is start my innings with good cricketing shots and backing my ability to manipulate fields.”
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Originally published as T20 World Cup: Glenn Maxwell relives his Afghanistan ODI World Cup double century epic ahead of T20 clash
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