Glenn Maxwell has been a vital cog in the Australian outfit for quite some time now. Maxwell was one of the leading protagonists in Australia’s successful campaign in the ICC World Cup 2015 where he was at his destructive best. For his IPL franchise, the Kings XI Punjab as well, Maxwell continues to be a lethal package and along with skipper David Miller, holds the aces for the Kings XI.
In a recent interaction, Maxwell opened up on a number of issues regarding the Australian team. Maxwell also differentiated between the approaches of Australia’s current skipper Steve Smith, and former skipper Michael Clarke. Maxwell admitted that he was more comfortable with Smith around than Clarke and found Smith more approachable and laid back.
“Steve is quite laid back. He doesn’t shy away from asking anyone to come to the bar for a drink, talk about the game or just chill out,” Maxwell said about Smith. “He gets his back up when we aren’t playing well and gives a decent spray but he’s very outgoing and still one of the boys.”
On comparing Smith with Clarke, Maxwell said, “Whereas, I think Clarke was the ultimate professional, tactically brilliant and everyone looked up to him. But he didn’t really have that same personal side. For me as a young person, I sort of felt like he wanted to keep himself as the captain and make sure people knew that. There’s no right or wrong way to go about it, they’re all just trying to get the best out of people in different ways and you still see bits of Clarke in Steve as well,” Maxwell said.
The right-hander then opened up on Australia’s disastrous test tour of India, where the Kangaroos were drubbed 4-0 in early 2013. “There was a fair bit of panic in 2013. It will be a little bit more relaxed and a bit more calm,” Maxwell said of Australia’s next tour of India, “When there are on-field or off-field issues, they’ll be dealt with a lot better. Everyone understands that now. It makes it a lot more easy to act like an adult if you get treated like one.”