Why should cricket fans watch Glen Maxwell playing even if you are a fan of another team?

By K.R. Nayar

Anyone who appreciates exciting cricket must watch Glen Maxwell in action. While reporting on Bangalore’s match against Mumbai Indians at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, I considered myself fortunate, like all those who were watching the match yesterday, to have been able to see the amazing skills in players like Glenn Maxwell.

Glenn Maxwell shapes for a switch hit. Photo: RCB Twitter 

One can never predict the shots that Glenn Maxwell would produce. Very often, neither the bowler nor the fielding captain has any clue of the kind of shot he may play.  Those who get to watch him live can proudly claim that they have watched closely one of the most innovative stroke players in the history of the game. On Sunday (September 26, 2021) Maxwell was in his elements displaying his switch hits with brilliance.

It now strikes me how correctly he has been named 'Maxwell'. He really lives up to his name. ‘Max-imising well’ his abilities has always been his approach to the game. When he hits those unbelievable shots, one wonders whether he should be called ‘Mad-Max’. But the one thing that is sure is that he can get the bowlers to go mad and the opposing team's captain nervous since his shots can upset any field setting.

It was a treat to watch how quickly Maxwell changed his stance for his first six of the match against Krunal Pandya. He went down on his knee and swung the ball with tremendous power. The second six against Rahul Chahar was even more beautifully executed. Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma had placed two fielders in the deep expecting another reverse hit at deep point and deep cover. But all that happened was that those two fielders had to watch the ball sail into the first tier of the stadium. He was undoubtedly brave to play such a shot. Then the question that comes up is how he manages to get that kind of power after quickly turning into a left hander?

Glenn Maxwell's splendid knock. Photo RCB Twitter  

The boundaries he hit too were a treat to watch. The scoop shots wide of third man twice off Adam Milne to the boundary were amazing. The giant scoreboard applauded his shot placings with the remark – ‘surgical precision’.” Maxwell hit 56 off 37 balls with three sixes and six boundaries, and one was left hoping that he would play longer and continue to entertain.

After the match, when Maxwell was asked about his reverse shots, he said: “I have worked on it a lot over the years and it has now become a strength for me.” So when the hat-trick boy Harshal Patel came for the post match press conference, he was asked whether he had seen Maxwell practice these shots at the nets. Patel said that he had never seen him play those shots and that he believes it comes naturally to Maxwell.   

Virat Kohli too hit a half century, but then his stroke play was nothing but elegance. The manner in which he picks the delivery and positions himself for the shots is remarkable.  AB De Villiers lasted only six balls to hit one six and one boundary, but a shot that he played off Jasprit Bumrah for a boundary stands out. He used the bat like a tennis racquet to hit the ball over the bowler’s head. It is remarkable that he hit such a shot against the finest pacer in the game today.

Maxwell, De Villiers, and Kohli are batsmen to be enjoyed for their bravery, mastery, and timing.