North Sound (Antigua and Barbuda): Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell scooped out about his paltry form with the bat and feels he isn't far away from regaining it.
Maxwell, who was in exceptional form till the commencement of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, managed to score only 52 runs at an average of a mere 5.78 and a strike rate of 120.93 in 10 matches of the cash-rich league and 39 runs in four three innings at the average of 13.00 and a strike rate of 114.70 in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
Despite being out of form, Maxwell has played all the matches for Australia in ongoing marquee event and would be aiming to regain his form in the Super Eight stage of the tournament.
"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.
The flamboyant all-rounder 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 Stoinis - 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, who recently became the world no.1 all-rounder in T20Is, won the game for his side single handedly against Oman in their first game of T20 World Cup 2024. He is also the Australia's leading run scorer in the tournament so far with 156 runs in three innings at an average of 70 and strike rate above 190. Apart from his batting prowess, 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," Maxwell 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.
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