"I Took 40 Balls To Get Off The Mark, Glenn Maxwell Hit A Ton": Sunil Gavaskar's Ultimate Tribute On Fiery Cricket World Cup Knock

Glenn Maxwell re-wrote history books on Wednesday as the Australian cricket team star slammed a century in 40 balls against Netherlands. No one has reached the triple figure in ODI Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 in lesser balls. Glenn Maxwell broke Aiden Markram's record of a 49-ball ton. The South African star had achieved the feat a few days ago at the Cricket World Cup 2023. Glenn Maxwell's innings was laden with eight sixes and nine fours. Maxwell reached the fifty run mark in 27 balls and then took just 13 more balls to reach the triple figure mark. 

Maxwell hit some improbable-looking shots, the likes of which only he is capable off. While there were quite a few unorthodox and crazy shot, two shots against Bas De Leede stood out. In the 47th over, Maxwell revere-hit the Netherlands bowler for two sixes. It was outrageous.

After the Australian innings ended, former Indian cricket team captain Sunil Gavaskar paid a rich tribute to Glenn Maxwell.   

"This one (Reverse hit) has got to be one of the greatest cricketing shots. It's gone for six. It should be a 12. The bowling after that got a bit rattled because they just didn't know where to bowl. It was an incredible effort. He had an average of 12, to score the runs that he did and at the rate at which he did. It was amazing," said Gavaskar on Star Sports.

"I took 40 balls to get off the mark. He has scored a hundred in 40 balls, amazing, amazing," he added.

After Australia clinched a stunning 309-run win against the Netherlands in the 24th match of the ODI World Cup 2023 at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Wednesday, star allrounder Glenn Maxwell said that it was a bit weird, he had to calm himself down for the first 20 oddballs and rebuild.

While speaking at the pre-match press conference, Maxwell said that the circumstances and the timings of the wickets have changed the way he would have gone.

Maxwell added that he was just hitting the ball flat through the gap and picked the spots pretty clearly.

The Aussie allrounder added that it was only the back end where I tried to just pump everything.

"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.

While talking about the inning against Netherlands, Maxwell said that he played a lot of games in India which helped him to score the fastest century at the ODI World Cup.

He also added that he is not too worried about people saying that he hasn't made runs in ODI cricket because it doesn't really matter.

 With ANI inputs

Topics mentioned in this article

Glenn Maxwell Australia Cricket Team Netherlands World Cup 2023 Sunil Gavaskar Cricket