Glenn Maxwell turned Sunil Gavaskar's pointed criticism into high praise in a matter of hours. Minutes before the start of play in the World Cup 2023 match between Australia and Netherlands in Delhi, Gavaskar, in a pre-match show on Star Sports, heavily criticised Maxwell for his poor run of form in the tournament. Gavaskar was particularly critical of Maxwell's shot selection against Pakistan. The Australia all-rounder was out for a golden duck after he attempted a wild slog against Shaheen Shah Afridi.
"It's a matter of ego. I think he was happy at RCB when he was given the No.3 slot. He felt he was important, he needed to make a contribution every match. Here he is batting at 5, 6, and 7. In cricket, there is a thin line between carefree and careless. He has been on the careless side (in this World Cup) more. That first-ball dismissal against Pakistan, what kind of a shot was that? So clearly, (he was) careless and not carefree," Gavaskar said.
It is almost impossible that Maxwell would have heard Gavaskar's comments before walking out to bat on Wednesday. But the way he batted, he sure was trying to prove a point or two. Walking in to bat at No.6, the right-hander broke a plethora of records with his power-hitting. He smashed the fastest-ever World Cup century off 40 balls. It was also the fastest century by an Australian in ODIs. Maxwell is also the first Aussie to score 100-plus runs in the final ten overs of an ODI. He struck eight sixes in his knock, which is the second most by an Australian in a World Cup match, along with Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting. He and Pat Cummins added 107 runs for the seventh wicket, which is the highest for the side for the same or lower down the order in a World Cup innings.
He ended up with 106 off just 44 balls to power Australia 399/8. In reply, Netherlands were bowled out for 90 as Australia registered the biggest victory in World Cup history (in terms of runs) by 309 runs.
{{/usCountry}}He ended up with 106 off just 44 balls to power Australia 399/8. In reply, Netherlands were bowled out for 90 as Australia registered the biggest victory in World Cup history (in terms of runs) by 309 runs.
{{/usCountry}}So good was Maxwell's batting that Gavaskar was forced to take 180-degree about Maxwell's batting. After the match, Gavaskar could not stop praising Maxwell's switch hits and reverse sweeps.
"This has to be one of the greatest shots in cricket. It's an amazing shot. It went for a six. He should actually get 12 for this shot. This is an unbelievable shot. Yes, after a couple of sixes, the bowling was a bit ragged. They just didn't know where to bowl. They tried slower ones, they tried bowling around the midriff. It was incredible bating. I mean, I took 40 balls to get off the mark and he scored a century," he said on the post-match show in Star Sports.
Maxwell said he had to calm himself down after Australia lost a couple of quick wickets.
"It's a bit weird that I had to calm myself down for the first 20 oddballs and rebuild. I think the circumstances of, I suppose, the timing of the wickets probably changed the way I would have gone about it if it was just me and Davey at the back end. I felt like I was just super selective. Even with the boundaries I was hitting, until I got to about 50 or 60, I was literally hitting them flat through the gap or picking my spots pretty clearly where I wanted to go and it was only the back end where I tried to just pump everything," Maxwell said.