Glenn Maxwell intends to continue playing for Australia as long as the team needs him. The all-rounder is still considered a vital cog in the white-ball set-up and has been included in the Australian squad for the upcoming tour of South Africa as well as the preliminary ODI World Cup squad. Australian Veteran player suffered a major setback in the form of a horrific leg injury ahead of the 2022 T20 World Cup.
He suffered multiple fractures after slipping during a party and was out of cricket for a long time. Maxwell returned to action in the ODI series against India, where he was dropped after the first match. He scored 400 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 183.49 in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
The Australian particularly enjoyed batting at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, the home ground of the franchise, where he hit three fifties. He was recently seen participating in the T20 Blast in England. Ahead of Australia’s crucial white-ball assignments in the form of the 2023 ODI World Cup and 2024 T20 World Cup, Maxwell told reporters:
“I’ll keep playing as long as people will have me, until they think that someone is more deserving of my spot, which is fine. Until then, I’ll keep plugging along. I still feel fit, I still feel young, especially with the role I play. I still try to hit it to hotspots on the field, I’m not hiding at all.”
Glenn Maxwell was part of Australia’s 2015 World Cup-winning team under Michael Clarke. He has been in and out of the team in recent times due to injuries and form concerns, but his experience will be valuable as Australia prepare itself for a phase of transition, including the one he is in.
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“It’s A Tough Thing for A Young Player To Come In And Do That” – Glenn Maxwell On The Difficulties Of His Role
Glenn Maxwell came with a reputation as a pinch-hitter and played a range of roles from opening batsman to finisher during his career. His primary role, to this day, remains as a middle-order batsman who can take on the bowlers at will and finish off innings when necessary. He believes that it is difficult for newcomers to play the role of finisher on a consistent basis.
Maxwell said:
“I’ve got a lot of scar tissue that’s been built up from the mistakes I’ve made in that role. It’s a hard thing for a young player to come in and do that role. When you have those young guys that come in, they might have success with their first game but a couple of games of failure, it’s really hard to come back from. Sometimes you just get used to failure as an older person and you can sort of have the resilience to come back from it.”
Ashton Turner, Tim Davids, and several others have been candidates for the role in recent years in Australia. Australia’s road to the ODI World Cup will begin with the white-ball series against South Africa, starting August 30.
