North Sound [Antigua and Barbuda], June 20 (ANI): Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell opened up about his dwindling form and feels he isn’t far from regaining it.
Maxwell has been struggling to find the purple patch, and his poor form stems back to the below-par season with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
In ten matches of IPL 2024, he scored just 52 runs at an average of a mere 5.78 and a strike rate of 120.93. He registered a couple of ducks as well in the first half of the season.
Maxwell’s lean patch continued even in the ongoing T20 World Cup, with only 39 runs coming off his bat in four matches at an average of 13.00.
“Still feeling really good. I’ve been hitting the ball pretty well, but…it’s just been really hard to, I suppose, get that rhythm and momentum. You’ve seen our openers go out there and pump it all over the place, and then in the middle order, it’s been quite difficult to adjust,” Maxwell told ESPN’s Around The Wicket.
Maxwell also heaped praise on fellow all-rounder Marcus Stoinis, who has been firing all cylinders since the beginning of this competition.
“The only one throughout the tournament who has consistently smashing them is Stoin – he’s been outstanding. To have those guys below me gives me a lot of confidence, knowing I have a bit of time to get myself into the tournament, and we’ve got some real quality below us. It’s a nice position to be in that I don’t feel like I’ve fully hit my straps, played pretty well against England… but I know it’s not far away,” he added.
Stoinis has had a straight hand in Australia’s four wins in the group stage. With 156 runs, he is one of the tournament’s leading run scorers, and he also has six wickets under his belt as well.
Under the leadership of Marsh, Australia is yet to be beaten in the tournament. But, since his hamstring injury, which he picked up during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, Marsh has struggled to muster up runs on the board.
Maxwell praised Marsh for the impact he can make in a short period and his influential performances across all formats in the past couple of years.
“Mitch has been unbelievable over the last couple of years since he’s come back into all three formats, especially the Test stuff. I think that’s probably filtered into the confidence in the other two formats. Watching him go about his work, you always know he’s only one or two shots away from basically ruining a game (for the opposition), and we are looking forward to seeing that,” Marsh said.
Australia will play their first game of the Super 8 of the ongoing T20 World Cup against Bangladesh on Friday at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua and Barbuda. (ANI)
