Star’s Maxwell plea amid World Cup shakes
Gun Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has been backed to return to his superb best and urged to not give away his instinctive feel for the game.
In a concerning sign on the road to the T20 World Cup, Maxwell averaged only 6.3 from his last six innings, managing scores of just 19, 16, one, zero, six, zero, one and eight.
The 33-year-old is hoping to emerge from his rut in Australia’s last T20 ahead of the World Cup, against England at Canberra’s Manuka Oval on Friday night.
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Australian teammate Josh Hazlewood said he was confident Maxwell could overcome his rocky run and encouraged him to not steer away from his natural game.
“I’ve played a lot with Glenn lately, in particular at RCB (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and obviously the Australian team, but (in) all three aspects of the game he’s outstanding,” Hazlewood said.
“He’s just that close to winning a game for us off his own bat or the ball or in the field.
“So he’s a key part of our team and just adds that balance beautifully.
“You don’t want him going away from his natural instinct, either. He’s the sort of a player that just reacts to what’s coming and plays his game, and that’s the one thing you want from Glenn all the time.”
In a 93-game T20 international career, Maxwell has racked up 2033 runs at the average of 28.23 and strike-rate of 150.81.
He’s among the most destructive batters in the world when he’s at the top of his game, rivalling the likes of Rohit Sharma, Jos Buttler and David Miller, and Australian teammates David Warner, Marcus Stoinis and Mitchell Marsh.
“He can just go out and play his game, whether it’s in the first six overs or outside that against spin, where he’s been particular pretty destructive,” Hazlewood said.
“So I think he just (needs a) free mindset and (needs to) play his game.”
There are four all-rounders in the Australian World Cup squad in Maxwell, Stoinis, Marsh and Ashton Agar.
When is the T20 World Cup?
The World Cup will begin with a clash between Sri Lanka and Namibia at Geelong’s Kardinia Park on Sunday, October 16.
It will conclude with the final at the MCG on Sunday, November 13.
T20 World Cup schedule
The 16 teams are split into four groups.
The tournament will begin with qualifier rounds involving eight teams divided into two groups. In group A are Ireland, Namibia, the Netherlands and Sri Lanka. In group B are Bangladesh, Oman, Papua New Guinea and Scotland.
The super-12 rounds, beginning on October 22, are also split into two groups. In group one are Australia, England, South Africa, the West Indies, the winner of group A and the runner-up of group B. In group two are Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, the winner of group B and the runner-up of group A.
The winner of group one will face the runner-up of group two in one semi-final, and the winner of group two will meet the runner-up of group one in the other semi-final.
The winners of the semi-finals will then square off in the final.
Starc destroys Curran’s stumps
T20 World Cup venues
The World Cup will be played at seven venues: Adelaide Oval, the Gabba in Brisbane, Geelong’s Kardinia Park, Hobart’s Bellerive Oval, the MCG, Perth Stadium and the SCG.
T20 World Cup tickets
Tickets can be purchased through the official ICC men’s T20 World Cup website.
How to watch the T20 World Cup
Every Australian match and other headline games will be broadcast live and free on Nine and 9Now.
Squads
Afghanistan
Mohammad Nabi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hazratullah Zazai, Usman Ghani, Mohammad Shahzad, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Gulbadin Naib, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Hamid Hassan, Farid Ahmed Malik, Naveen ul Haq, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Samiullah Shinwari, Dawlat Zadran, Fazal Haq Farooqi
Australia
Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
Malan powers England to T20 win over Aussies
Bangladesh
Mahmud Ullah (c), Naim Sheikh, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Saifuddin, Shamim Hossain, Rubel Hossain
England
Eoin Morgan, Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Tymal Mills, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Liam Dawson, James Vince, Reece Topley
India
Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur
Namibia
Gerhard Erasmus (c), Stephen Baard, Karl Birkenstock. Michau du Preez, Jan Frylinck, Zane Green, Nicol Lofie-Eaton, Bernard Scholtz, Ben Shikongo, JJ Smit, Ruben Trumpelmann, Michael van Lingen, David Wiese, Craig Williams, Picky Ya France. Mauritius Ngupita
Netherlands
Pieter Seelaar (c), Colin Ackermann, Philippe Boissevain, Ben Cooper, Bas de Leede, Scott Edwards, Brandon Glover, Fred Klaassen, Stephan Myburgh, Max O’Dowd, Ryan Ten Doeschate, Logan van Beek, Timm van der Gugten, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van Meekeren
New Zealand
Kane Williamson (c), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Adam Milne
Oman
Zeeshan Maqsood (c), Aqib Ilyas, Jatinder Singh, Khawar Ali, Mohammad Nadeem, Ayaan Khan, Suraj Kumar, Sandeep Goud, Nester Dhamba, Kaleemullah, Bilal Khan, Naseem Khushi, Sufyan Mehmood, Fayyaz Butt, Khurram Khan
Pakistan
Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan (vc), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim junior, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Khushdil Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir
Papua New Guinea
Assad Vala (c), Charles Amini, Lega Siaka, Norman Vanua, Nosaina Pokana, Kipling Doriga, Tony Ura, Hiri Hiri, Gaudi Toka, Sese Bau, Damien Ravu, Kabua Vagi-Morea, Simon Atai, Jason Kila, Chad Soper, Jack Gardner
Scotland
Kyle Coetzer (c), Richard Berrington, Dylan Budge, Matthew Cross, Josh Davey, Ally Evans, Chris Greaves, Michael Leask, Calum Macleod, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Hamza Tahir, Craig Wallace, Mark Watt, Brad Wheal
South Africa
Temba Bavuma (c), Keshav Maharaj, Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, W Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, George Linde, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lizaad Williams
West Indies
Dasun Shanaka (c), Kusal Janith Perera, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya De Silva, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Chamika Karunaratne, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Maheesh Theekshana, Akila Dananjaya, Binura Fernando
World Cup champions
2007 | India
2009 | Pakistan
2010 | England
2012 | West Indies
2014 | Sri Lanka
2016 | West Indies
2021 | Australia
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