India vs Australia 2017: Glenn Maxwell’s Place In Playing XI Not Safe, Feels Michael Clarke
Mar 23, 2017 at 10:34 AM
Glenn Maxwell might have pressed his claim for a regular spot in Australia’s playing XI with a brilliant century in Ranchi’s testing conditions, but former skipper Michael Clarke feels the player’s place in the side is far from being cemented.
Clarke feels Maxwell’s place in Test team will depend on the conditions the Australia team will be playing in. The Kangaroos have generally played a pace-bowling all-rounder at number six and Clarke said they’ll prefer a fast-bowling all-rounder once they play at home.
“Conditions will dictate which way they go when they get back to Australia,” Clarke said in a live chat on his Facebook page, adding that Maxwell’s bowling was “underrated”.
“Will they want the fourth fast-bowling option as the allrounder, or will they stay with Glenn Maxwell?”
Maxwell, who played his first Test in Ranchi since 2014, starred with the willow by scoring 104 in the first innings. However, he was given only four overs by skipper Steven Smith even though the Indian team was made life difficult for Australian bowlers on a flat track, which is a clear indication that Smith does not rate Maxwell’s off-spins very highly.
“Especially if Steve Smith is not bowling Maxi, then he becomes a legitimate batsman so he’s got to be making a lot of runs to stay in the team,” Clarke pointed out.
“And I think this current Australian team likes to have an allrounder so I think when they get back from India (to Australia), I think they’ll go back to three fast bowlers, an allrounder at No.6 with the one spinner in Nathan Lyon,” he added.
At the same time, the World Cup-winning skipper said Australia would find it tough to drop Maxwell if he keeps on scoring runs.
“But time will tell. If Glenn Maxwell keeps making runs, they have to keep picking him and I thought he was fantastic the other day,” he concluded.