Maxwell credits ‘consistency of role’ for India success

Maxwell finished the two-match series against India, which Australia swept 2-0, as the highest scorer from either side, his unbeaten 113 on Wednesday, 27 February, coming on the back of a 43-ball 56 in the first T20I in Visakhapatnam.

Maxwell made those runs from No.4 – the same position that he batted at for the Stars, for whom he was the third-highest run-scorer, with 331 runs at 33.10 and a best of 82. "I’ve been batting at No. 4 for the Stars. I’m familiar with my role," he said. "Coming at two-down for the past 12 months, that’s a consistent role for me. Once I get that consistency of role, you can start to see consistency in performance, and that’s probably what’s led to this."

Maxwell also spoke of a mental reset, wherein he's more conscious in picking the right moments to attack. He had expressed his disappointment at not being able to finish off the first game in Visakhapatnam, and while he still stood by his decision to go after Yuzvendra Chahal on that occasion, he felt like he was able to minimise some of those risks during the course of his century.

"I feel I’ve just been picking off balls that I feel I can hit for boundaries," he said. "I didn’t feel like I took too many risks. I was able to hit the balls where the fielders weren’t. There’s not many times I hit it over a fielder’s head, it’s more in the gap. I think that’s been key for me when I’ve had success. When I'm actually going, if I mistime it, it still lands in the gap. Just felt like today I had a good read of the game and was able to stay one step ahead."

Maxwell said that while he is generally cautious against Jasprit Bumrah, attacking him in the 17th over was a conscious move. Australia had required 44 off 24 balls at that stage, and Bumrah had gone for just 13 in his first two. But Maxwell was able to find the boundary twice to keep up with the required rate.

"That was a key over. If that goes for only four or five, you suddenly need 13 an over, and it only takes six good yorkers from him to push that up to 18-19 an over, and that could be quite difficult to get in the two other overs," he said. "I was just hoping that he would miss a couple of times and I could pounce on that. He’s done me in a fair few times in T20 cricket, especially for Mumbai [Indians, in the IPL]. I’ve changed my approach against him a little bit: just wait for a ball that is slightly off and just capitalise on that."

Maxwell stated his preference for batting higher up and settling into a role up the order closer to the World Cup, but acknowledged that he may have to settle for otherwise, with competition tight for the top four spots. "I’m not too fussed. Even when I came in tonight, there were 15 overs to go and I was able to get a hundred," he said. "Even if I’m doing that at No.7 or 6, it doesn’t really matter.

Sometimes it’s not easy to come at the end and just go like that, because the ball is a lot older, the ball is spinning and the wickets deteriorate a lot quicker over here. Even tonight, I think at the end of the game, you could see the wicket was starting to dry out, there were scuffs all over it. So in one-day cricket, that’s a lot further into the game. It’s not as easy to go in the end. Would be nice to bat a little bit higher, but there’s a lot of players with credentials in the top four and five that thoroughly deserve their spots. So if the opportunity does come up, I’d love to take it."