The game of cricket has witnessed numerous advancements in the batting department with the advent of T20s. The batsmen from the past were known for the class and grace in their strokes whereas nowadays, it’s about scoring runs no matter how they might come. In the pursuit of quick runs in the shortest format, the batsmen today have emerged with plenty of new shots that were unimaginable few years ago.
There are several batsmen who can play shots with ridiculous ease to parts of the ground but no one does it better than Glenn Maxwell. He is one of the fascinating players in modern day cricket who has redefined the way, the game is played. He goes after the bowling right from the outset, and more often than not comes out on top. He possesses a strike rate of 167.41 in T20Is which is the highest by any batsmen in the world and marks him as the most destructive batsman of the modern era.
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The Australian has a wide range of shots and leaves the crowd awestruck with his devastating batting. Here are some of his shots which are literally breath-taking:
#5 Heave over long-on/mid-wicket
The best quality about Glenn Maxwell is the ability to judge the length of the ball early. To execute this shot against fast bowlers, he shuffles towards leg, clears the front foot and generates immense power from the bottom hand and lifts the ball over long-on or mid-wicket. If the ball is fuller in length, he puts his head down and plays off the front and if it is short, he hangs on the back foot and then swivels to send the ball packing.
Against spinners, he absolutely loves to use his feet. Especially against off spinners, he dances down the wicket and reaches to the pitch of the ball and a big heave almost guarantees a six over long on every time. This shot yields the maximum distance amongst all the shots for the right-hander.
#4 Sweep cum flick
This shot of his is different from a conventional sweep that a classical batsman would play by bending down with the back knee on the ground. Conversely, Maxwell doesn’t bend down completely and the back knee stays clear of the ground. He moves slightly towards the off stump and comes inside the line of the ball and flicks the ball over square leg or fine leg.
Against fast bowlers, he uses the extra pace with the flick and diverts the ball finer where against spinners, he uses the wrists to produce huge power which carries the ball over the ropes on most occasions. He played this shot a lot in the IPL when he played for Kings XI Punjab in the 2014 season and was responsible for taking them to the final.
#3 Lofted drive over covers
Among all the shots that he plays, this could be termed as the least complicated one. Still, his shots are incomplete without movements which he does incorporate in this one as well. The right-hander moves a couple of steps across towards leg and makes room to clear the hitting arc and to a fuller delivery, drives the ball uppishly over covers/extra covers.
Against spinners, the movement is minimal as he waits for the ball to land and the bat makes a beautiful swing from the back shoulder to the front shoulder with a high back lift which makes the shot look stunning. More often than not, the ball lands into the stand. Though he is an off-spinner, yet hammers his counterparts mercilessly.
#2 Switch Hit
One of the trickiest shots introduced in the game is the switch hit and Maxwell is a master at it. He plays this shot mostly against spinners as there is more time to adjust to the changes required for the shots. After the bowler releases the ball, he changes his stances as well as the grip and bats like a left-hander and meets the right underneath his eyes. All this happens in one motion and gives absolutely no clue to the bowler.
One of the most memorable moments came in the World T20 2016 when he smashed Ravindra Jadeja over extra cover for six which became one of the highlights of the tournament. Every time such a shot is played, it takes the excitement to another level and the whole stadium gets lit up.
#1 Reverse Sweep
Probably one of the most difficult shots to play in the game, Maxwell plays it far better than anyone else. It can be deemed as his favourite one as it is the most productive shot for him. On numerous occasions, he has played the shot of the very first ball that he faced. There is no one else in the game who does that, such is the grit of the Australian.
The shot looks pretty similar to the switch hit, yet is very different. In the reverse sweep, he only changes the stances as of a left-hander but the grip remains like a right-hander. Contrary to the switch hit, it gives a wider angle to the hitting arc and thus, he can play this shot from extra cover to the third man. His skill is such that he can fetch the ball from well outside the leg stump and guide it to the point boundary.
It gets troublesome for the opposition captain to set a field against Maxwell as he manoeuvres the fielding. The best part of his batting is the ability to delay the shot until the bowler has delivered the ball and so it gives him no chance to adjust the line according to the shot.
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