Glenn Maxwell puts feelings into words after Mumbai heroics
Australia and Afghanistan faced each other in a crucial ODI World Cup 2023 game in Mumbai on Tuesday, November 7. The five-time champions were given a run for their money by the ‘Blue Tigers’. But, a record-shattering double century from Maxwell helped Australia register a memorable victory from the jaws of defeat.
The charismatic all-rounder helped Australia recover from 91/7 to chase down a daunting target of 292 in the 47th over. He remained unbeaten on 201 off 128 balls, hitting 21 fours and 10 sixes during the breathtaking innings. The 35-year-old also battled bad back and cramps and it only enhanced the enormity of the knock. After taking Australia to a famous three-wicket win, Maxwell tried to put his feelings into words. He revealed that he contemplated getting retired hurt at one point to receive treatment.
“It’s so fresh at the moment I’m a bit numb to it. It was great fun. It just felt like it was me and Patty [Cummins] having fun out there. I’ll probably reflect a bit more over the next few days and hopefully recover and get some movement back in my hamstring and calves. It’s pretty raw at the moment,” Maxwell told reporters as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
“We talked about coming off and trying to get some work into my back and trying to loosen up my legs a little bit. The physio said it would be really hard for you to come back out down the stairs after that. It probably made the job a little more simple. Then we came up with let’s stay at the same end for as long as you can, until you can at least walk at the other end if there is an easy single. But for a while there it was ‘if I can get one or two boundaries from the other end’ it didn’t really matter what happened the other end. Because we got it to a run a ball by that stage. There was certain planning, it wasn’t all just chaotic swinging,” Maxwell said.
As long as we kept Rashid out of the game I felt like I could hit boundaries off others: Maxwell
Maxwell explained that he had identified talismanic Afghan spinner Rashid Khan as the biggest threat and focused on playing him out.
“We knew Rashid had about 18 balls left that was going to happen in the last 13 overs or something like that. As long as we kept him out of the game I felt like I could hit boundaries off the others. So was more about negating him, not letting him have a shot at the rest of the tail. If we could keep him out of the backend of the game we’d be alright,” Maxwell said.
The right-handed batter said that many had written the Aussies off after they lost their first couple of games. He was thrilled to make it to the semi-finals on the back of six consecutive wins.
“It’s been a busy couple of weeks. [It’s] since my family arrived. It’s been a weird couple of weeks. Extremely grateful to be able to get back out here and make the semis. Think after the first two games we were pretty close to being written off by most people. To be able to string six wins together at the right time, and we didn’t have our best stuff tonight, against a pretty spirited opposition so to be in the semis is a great feeling and hopefully, we enjoy a few days in Pune. I’ll stay away from the golf carts,” Maxwell added.
