“Are you going to pick a bloke that hasn’t made 100 for two years?,” said Australia coach Darren Lehmann, just a month before the start of the Border-Gavaskar series, virtually shutting the door on Glenn Maxwell’s hopes of a comeback in Tests.
Fast forward to four months later, the 28-year-old not only broke back into the Australian Test team, capping it with a century, but earned back his reputation as one of the most destructive batters in the world with considerable elan.
With two wins from as many games, Maxwell, the batsman and the captain, has hardly put a foot wrong. In both games, first against Rising Pune Supergiant and then against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, he has displayed a masterclass on how a team should go about finishing games, alleviating pressure on his batsmen, fully using his natural ability to clear the ropes.
Maxwell’s inimitable ability to tear open a bowling attack were are well and truly back. As for Lehmann’s comments, they seemed to have awakened a beast that went into hibernation for a little while.
Virender Sehwag, presiding over matters in the Punjab dressing room, laid down the marker for the upcoming season, “We are not worried about victory or defeat. I will allow my players to play aggressive cricket,” the “Nawab of Najafgarh” said. Sehwag’s men have faithfully stuck to the template.
The Powerplay overs
KXIP have conceded the least amount of runs in the first six overs, compared to all the teams in the competition. In the first match, Maxwell went with pace at both ends. Against Bangalore, he surprised his opponents by using Axar Patel’s spin, which earned KXIP the early breakthrough of Shane Watson.
It is a stark contrast to the manner in which they fell apart last season, consistently being taken apart in the first six overs. There are some comparisons that have already been made to David Warner and his brand of captaincy, which took Sunrisers Hyderabad to their maiden title last season.
Maxwell, like Warner, is at his absolute best when asked to go after the bowling. Some would say that that is the only way the Australian duo know how to play their cricket.
With his bowlers testing the off-stump channel from good length, RPS and RCB struggled to get boundaries. It has not been all about containing runs either – rookie RCB keeper Vishnu Vinod’s dismissal, where the batsman was enticed into holing out in the deep is a case in point.
With a team’s performance during the powerplay overs so often going on to shape the result of a game, KXIP have identified and executed their plans with aplomb, conceding just 35 and 23 runs respectively.
Redemption complete
Maxwell had a forgettable Indian Premier League in 2016 as his side plunged to the bottom of the table. When on song, there are very few batsmen who can cause the the mayhem that Maxwell does. When the runs dry up, it can be a cause of great frustration to the side too – it’s the reputation that that explosive batsmen like Maxwell come with, especially in franchise cricket. They are the ones who draw fans to the stadium after all.
The Victorian’s failures from last season – 173 runs from 11 games – could have perhaps stemmed from his teammates letting him down at the top of the order. Both his brutal efforts so far – 44 from 20 balls and 43 from 22 balls – had him assume the role of a finisher; to shut out the contest and not let the opposition get a sniff.
The urgency with which openers Hashim Amla and Manan Vohra have gone about at the crease in the first few overs also highlight Sehwag’s influence in proceedings. Those starts have has given Maxwell the licence to do what he does best: Roll those strong bottom hand wrists of his from ball one.
Warning signs
With KXIP coasting to two wins, this could easily paper over the cracks. In both the games so far, the side has not managed to cope with a Maxwell-style assault from the opposition batsmen.
Ben Stokes and AB de Villiers showed that a couple of boundaries could throw the bowlers off rhythm, despite KXIP having players of international pedigree such as Axar Patel, Mohit Sharma and Varun Aaron.
Had it not been for an outstanding display in the first six overs, KXIP could have easily been chasing a total in excess of 160, having conceded 77 runs in the last five. The experiment to send in Patel as a pinch-hitter at No 3 has also been quite a disaster so far.
These are questions that Maxwell and team need to address in a tournament that moves at a breakneck pace. Tougher assignments certainly await one of modern day cricket’s greatest entertainers.
