Visakhapatnam: Glenn Maxwell is still not sure if he would be in Australia’s World Cup bound squad but a few more innings like the half-century in a winning cause against India in the first T20 international will certainly bolster his case.
Maxwell scored 56 off 43 balls in Australia’s three-wicket win off the last ball but is far from being guaranteed a place in the 15-member squad. “I have no idea if I am going to be in that World Cup squad or what number I’m going to bat, so I suppose it just comes down to opportunity — if I can keep making most of opportunities like tonight,” Maxwell said at the post-match press conference. However he agreed that he would have to not just contribute but also close in a few more matches. “If I can turn those sort of innings into not-out, 75-ish, and be consistent that way, I think I can probably go a long way in pencilling my name for the World Cup and hopefully continue that job for the rest of this year,” Maxwell said. The touring Australian teams over the years have struggled when it came to tight finishes and that’s precisely the reason why the last-ball victory in the first T20 International will help them build momentum, feels Glenn Maxwell.
Maxwell was a key contributor in Australia’s last-ball win with a 43-ball-56 but it was the pace bowling pair of Jhye Richardson and Pat Cummins, who won the match for Australia taking 14 off Umesh Yadav’s final over. “A lot of times when you come over here and you get into these close games and you lose them so often.
The home crowd can get behind the team and you can lose. It can just put your momentum back,” Maxwell said at the post-match news conference. (PTI)
