Glenn Maxwell became the first batsman in the history of ODI cricket to score a double century without opening. What is special is that he has scored a double century directly by coming at number six.

Sachin Tendulkar has described Maxwell’s double century as ‘the best innings I have seen in ODI cricket’. This is wonderful.

The dire situation of his team, the knock on the door with a shocking defeat, the heat in Mumbai, the balls that hit the feet, the collapse on the field, the situation where he had to be taken out on a stretcher… Maxwell stood up overcoming all these difficulties. It was all unbelievable.

He didn’t just stand up, he bowled the ball out many times. A fundamental rule in cricket that one must use good footwork to hit big shots, Maxwell broke several times during his double century. To break these rules you need to be not just a batsman but a magician.

Pattern of Maxwell’s game

We have the potential to play the best innings in the history of cricket. Glenn Maxwell has shown this many times before.

Maxwell has the quality to reverse-sweep the first ball and hit it for a four or a six, regardless of the field conditions.

He can play fast bowling as easily as any leading Australian batsman. At the same time, he has the art of playing the spinners easily and succeeding repeatedly on pitches in the Indian subcontinent.

Maxwell’s habit

Chasing 292 runs by Afghanistan, Australia was 91 for 7. Even in that situation, Maxwell scored an unbeaten 201 runs in 128 balls without going to the treasury by playing slowly.

Maxwell has a habit of playing this type of fast and big innings. He has done this many times before.

Fastest record

Maxwell caught the attention of the selectors by scoring the fastest half-century in a domestic ODI in Australia at the age of 22.

He is among the three fastest batsmen to score half-centuries in ODI cricket for Australia.

Maxwell is joint first with David Warner in the list of fastest Australian batsmen to score half-centuries in T20 International cricket.

Maxwell has also recently made the record of fastest century in the history of ODI World Cup.

Useful all rounder

Glenn Maxwell’s quality as an off-spinner is often overlooked in the glare of his aggressive batting.

In the T20 match against Pakistan, Maxwell did the trick of saving 2 runs in the last overs.

Maxwell was the only spinner to play regularly in the Australian team that won the World Cup in 2015.

He is also the second-ranked spinner in the Australian team in the 2023 World Cup in India. Maxwell has done the work of breaking the pair that has often gathered.

Dare to take a break

Maxwell, who is currently at the pinnacle of his cricketing career, has also experienced ups and downs. In the tone of aggressive play, he gets out with irresponsible shots. He has often been criticized for finding new ways to get out.

International cricket, T20 leagues like IPL, which require constant travel to different places, are tiring for cricketers. If the form is lost in that, the challenge ahead of them becomes more difficult.

2019 has been quite a rough year for Maxwell. His form was lost. In the same year, Maxwell decided to stay away from cricket for some time citing ‘not good mental health’.

Maxwell’s then girlfriend and now wife Vinnie Raman helped him through this difficult period.

“Vini was the first to recognize that I needed a break,” said Maxwell after returning from the break.

Maxwell did not hide his mental state. The then coach of the Australian cricket team, Justin Langer, also praised him for the fact that he openly disclosed the problem.

Kapil, Richards and Maxwell

Virender Sehwag proved in the early decades of the 21st century that his natural aggressive style could be successful in international cricket, challenging the conventional way of batting.

Rohit Sharma, David Warner enriched the game pattern of Sehwag.

Maxwell is not an opener like Sehwag, Rohit, Warner. His responsibility in the team is completely different.

The importance of Maxwell’s game cannot be measured in his statistics. So we have to understand its impact. In a sense, Maxwell can be compared to the batting of great cricketers like Kapil Dev or Viv Richards.