Legendary Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram has picked Glenn Maxwell as the finest batsman in the world for one-day internationals (ODIs), surpassing even Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Kane Williamson following his heroic knock against Afghanistan. The All-rounder played a knock for his life in Wankhede, leaving the cricketing world stunned.
In their World Cup 2023 campaign, Maxwell helped Australia recover from 91 for 7 wickets and successfully chase down 292, defying the odds and producing one of the greatest ODI innings of all time. The Australian finisher played a counter-attacking knock to become the first batter to score a double-hundred in chasing a target.
Speaking to A Sports, Wasim Akram praised Glenn Maxwell for playing a match-winning knock despite cramps, calling him one of the best one-day players in the world and claiming to have never seen a knock like this in his 20 years of playing and another 20 years of working in cricket on different teams.
“Maxwell showed the world, that he is the best one-day player right now in world cricket. This is unbelievable, I have never heard of this kind of knock before. I have played cricket for 20 years, worked in cricket for another 20 years and I have never seen anything like this before.”
“One man show, stuff of the legends. There is a saying, one guy can’t win you a game and obviously what an absolute lie. You have to have heart, to keep on playing despite having cramps. They are very very painful and they do not get away”. Wasim Akram said
The hard-hitting batter suffered through cramps during his batting innings and looked like he would walk off the field, being unable to stand at a certain stage of the innings. Despite having pain, he decided to remain on the field and finish the task—which he accomplished with style.
After his 40-ball century against the Netherlands to score the fastest century in ODI World Cup history—it was Glenn Maxwell’s third century in the marquee event and has been in scorching batting form after a poor World Cup debut, amassing 397 runs at an average of nearly 80 and a strike rate of over 150. Australia became the third team, after South Africa and India, to secure a spot in the semi-finals with the help of the knock.
