Glenn Maxwell, IPL 2021
Glenn Maxwell. Image Credits: Twitter

Swashbuckling all-rounder, Glenn Maxwell is keeping his hopes alive for returning to the Test setup of the Australian team. Maxwell, who is an imperative part of Australia’s limited-overs team, last played Test cricket in 2017.

In the 7 Tests he has played – all in Asia – the right-hander averages an ordinary 26.07 with the bat. He did strike a century against India in Ranchi but was dropped three Tests later never to be picked again.

Glenn Maxwell, who is currently in quarantine in New Zealand for a 5-match T20I series, says that he wished to don the Baggy Green again and still has time and fitness on his side.

Glenn Maxwell
Glenn Maxwell. Image-AFP.

“I am certainly keen to still play red-ball cricket, still push my case forward to still play Test cricket. I feel like I am still very much in the prime of my career. I am only 32, there is still a fair bit in me. I am fit, young – feeling still anyway. I feel I still have a lot to give in the red-ball game so I am not done and dusted there,” Glenn Maxwell, as quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald, said.

I will be doing everything in my power to try and get back in the Test team: Glenn Maxwell

Australia is expected to tour Pakistan and Sri Lanka for two Tests each, and India for a 4-Test series next year. Maxwell last played a first-class match for Victoria in October 2019. The explosive batsman has been kept busy due to international white-ball matches, the IPL and in between the pandemic hence couldn’t play first-class games.

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However, the right-hander opines that playing in Australia’s domestic matches is not of any great help if one is preparing for tours to Asia.

“Next year there are quite a few sub-continent tours. I feel I could certainly add something to that Test squad if I was selected. I will certainly be doing everything in my power to try and get on those tours.

“I think even watching this current Test [India v England in Chennai], you are not facing these conditions in Australia, so you are not probably learning a whole lot off Sheffield Shield cricket in Australia,” he said.

Glenn Maxwell
Glenn Maxwell. Image-Reuters.

The 32-year-old feels that if he can perform well and impress the selectors in the upcoming IPL, for which he is set to be auctioned after being released by Kings XI Punjab, and later in the Twenty20 World Cup in India, then he stands a chance to make a comeback in the longer format for Australia for the tour of Asia.

“You are not really getting a gauge on what guys are going to be like under that sort of pressure with the ball spinning square, keeping low, bouncing over your head. It’s just a different beast completely. To pick a Test side based on Sheffield Shield cricket is probably a little bit more difficult. 

“I am hoping that can put me in good stead even if I don’t have the time on field with the Sheffield Shield. [Hopefully] I can still find a way to play a few more series in the sub-continent over this year [IPL and Twenty20 World Cup] or however long and put my name forward, put up some good numbers and show that I am still a good player of spin,” the all-rounder further added.

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