Glenn Maxwell
Glenn Maxwell Credits: Twitter

Indian Cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag hailed Australian batter Glenn Maxwell for his phenomenal batting performance against Afghanistan on Tuesday. The 35-year-old played a counter-attacking knock for the five-time champions to seal their spot in the Semifinals of the ODI World Cup 2023.

Australia was chasing Afghanistan’s 292-run target when the game took place at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium With just 91 runs after losing seven wickets, the Australian team found themselves in a vulnerable position. Maxwell was quite cramped and had injuries, but he still showed remarkable talent and fortitude to help their side chase down the total in the 47th over.

Taking his X Handle, Legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar praised Afghan opener Ibrahim Zadran for his brilliant century and feels that Afghanistan played a good brand of cricket for 70 overs, but Glenn Maxwell turned the fortunes for the Australian team in the final over and hailed his innings as one of the best ODI knocks he had ever seen in his life.

“A wonderful knock by @IZadran18 to put Afghanistan in a good position. They started well in the 2nd half and played good cricket for 70 overs but the last 25 overs from @Gmaxi_32 was more than enough to change their fortune. From Max pressure to Max performance! This has been the best ODI knock I’ve seen in my life,” Sachin Tendulkar said.

Virender Sehwag lauded Glenn Maxwell’s innings as the greatest one-day knocks in World Cricket and praised Pat Cummins for providing perfect support in the match.

“Saw this coming. 200 in a run-chase, One of the all-time great one-day innings by Maxwell. @Gmaxi_32 was a man possessed and great support by @patcummins30. An innings to remember for a long long time,” Sehwag posted on X.

Glenn Maxwell went on to score an incredible double-century with 201 runs off 128 balls, which included 10 sixes and 21 fours. His performance was so outstanding that he was forced to hit the ball over the boundary without using his legs since cramps prevented him from moving between the wickets.

Maxwell’s feat with a 202-run partnership with Pat Cummins, was the greatest eighth-wicket partnership in the history of the ODI Cricket and the first time a player had ever achieved a double hundred in an ODI run chase. Australia defeated Afghanistan by three wickets and also guaranteed their spot in the World Cup semi-finals.