Glenn Maxwell can replicate the success of Gilchrist as an opener for Australia

It has only been on rare occasions in cricket history that a player who is making a comeback into the team after being dropped a few months ago for poor form, scores a century and a half-century in back to back matches and bags the ‘Man of the Match’ in both the games. If that is not enough, bagging the ‘Man of the Series’ award was the icing on the cake.

It definitely can send the critics of the player into a hibernation mode at least for some time. Glenn Maxwell did all that with ease, grace, class and his trademark flamboyance when he made a comeback into the Australian limited overs team in the two-match T20I series against Sri Lanka in their den.

If someone was not spending the past week in the igloo in the Antarctica or some other far-off place in the world, he would probably know why Maxwell has been the trending topic of discussion for the past few days in the cricket world. An innings of 145* off just 65 balls studded with 14 fours and 9 humongous sixes which was then backed up by an innings of 66 off just 29 balls that again included 7 fours and 4 towering sixes was a testimony to the fact that Maxwell is back in his own prime and top-notch form.

However, this time, Maxwell didn’t walk out to bat at his default middle order position. Instead, he was given the opportunity to open the innings along with David Warner and he found his Midas touch at the top of the order immediately. It has been long since an Australian opener did so much damage to the opposition bowling. The fear that Maxwell instilled among the Lankan bowlers only could be seen when Adam Gilchrist used to open for Australia along with Mathew Hayden.

Gilchrist had this ability to take the attack to the bowlers and had would run away with the match in the blink of an eye. His partner in crime, Mathew Hayden, on the other hand, would play the second fiddle at the other end and only started attacking after Gilchrist departed. It had become their habit and they succeeded in forging match-winning partnerships more often than not.

After Gilchrist and Hayden retired in 2008, Australia have tried different combinations of openers but haven’t been able to find a perfect replacement for the pair. Only David Warner is the one who has settled as the successor to Mathew Hayden but Gilchrist seemed irreplaceable till a couple of days back. He was all about the strike rate than the average.

He averaged just about 36 in ODIs but his strike rate was an astonishing 96.94 even after 287 ODI matches. It requires immense talent, capability and consistency to do so in each and every match. Openers like Shaun Marsh, Aaron Finch, Shane Watson have tried their best to fit into the boots of Gilchrist but haven’t been able to do so.

Marsh averages a healthy 38.70 in 51 ODIs but his strike rate is quite low for the modern day format being at 77.44. Although Shane Watson and Aaron Finch have always had their ODI strike rates near the 90s with a healthy average in the nearing 40s as well, none of the two could explode from the very start of the innings in the same manner as Gilchrist on a consistent basis.

Both of them have been quite inconsistent in the past as an opener. After Watson’s retirement, Finch has been in good form recently as an opener. He has always provided Australia a steady start along with Warner but injuries have marred his career. And when Maxwell was provided the opportunity to open he pounced on to it.

The ‘Big Show’ has an astonishing strike rate of 125.74 and an average of 33.26 in 61 ODI innings he has played so far. Those figures are quite staggering for a middle order batsman who bats when most fielders are at the boundaries. However, with the recent couple of innings against Sri Lanka Maxwell has shown that he can take advantage of the fielding restrictions at the start of the innings. He scored 211 runs off just 94 balls from the two matches combined and that has certainly earned him a few more opportunities.

It still remains to be seen if Maxwell will be given a shot to open in ODIs as well. He has already given the selectors and team management quite a headache as Usman Khawaja and Finch were already competing for the opening spot. But, it is a good headache to have. Maxwell himself has admitted that he loves to bat at the top of the order and a person is the best at the job that he loves to do the most. If Australia persist with him at the top of the order the bowlers are going to have a hard time ahead and can definitely replicate the success of Gilchrist as an opener in limited overs format along with David Warner at the helm.

Written by Prasenjit Dey