How Glenn Maxwell battled ‘hamstring injury’ and ‘back spasm’ to play historic knock vs Afghanistan
World Cup 2023: Glenn Maxwell faced issues with his hamstring and back during his knock against Afghanistan on Tuesday at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
In Short
- Glenn Maxwell suffered from cramps during his knock against Afghanistan
- Maxwell scored 201 runs off 128 balls at Wankhede Stadium
- Maxwell helped Australia advance to the World Cup semis
Glenn Maxwell said that he went through hamstring issues and back spasm en route to his double hundred against Afghanistan in the World Cup 2023 match on Tuesday, November 7 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Maxwell cramped up quite a few times, but he stood up and played one of the greatest knocks in the history of ODIs, if not the greatest. The right-handed batter scored an unbeaten 201 runs off 128 balls, a knock laced with 21 fours and 10 sixes.
On the back of his knock, Australia won the match by three wickets and made their way through to the semi-final of the mega event on Indian soil. Maxwell said that he played with a clear mind after realising that his movement got restricted due to cramps.
“But as I went, ‘Oh no, I am cramping’. I’ll cramp in. My left hamstring at the same time. So, I was like, I have got both legs and then I had a back spasm when I hit the ground,” Maxwell was quoted as saying in a video uploaded on ICC.
“But it actually probably made the whole job a little bit simpler. I wasn’t sort of overthinking the situation, I just knew if I got a ball that I could hit, I would try and hit it,” he added.
Pat Cummins, who was at the non-striker’s end, said that he asked Adam Zampa to be ready in case Maxwell had to go off the park.
“Yeah, I thought he was going off, so I kind of signalled to (Adam) Zampa to get down here because, yeah, he literally couldn’t move. Jonesy the physio was out there obviously and he kind of convinced Maxi that if he came off it might be worse off. So, try and hang out there, stand up,” Cummins said in the post-match press conference.
Australia are next scheduled to face Bangladesh on November 11 at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune.