Exclusive: Mike Hussey describes Glenn Maxwell’s magical knock as ‘one of the greatest’ on First Sports

All-rounder Glenn Maxwell produced one of the greatest knocks in the history of the sport to single-handedly power Australia to victory over Afghanistan in their ICC World Cup match in Mumbai.

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Maxwell struck an unbeaten 201 off 128 deliveries, becoming the first Australian man to score an ODI double-hundred and helped Australia chase down a challenging 292-run target from a near-hopeless position of 91/7 with more than three overs to spare.

Not only did he refuse to give up at a time when the Afghans were breathing down their necks, he also fought his way through extreme physical pain; he refused to give up despite suffering from cramps, and chose to smash the ball around the park with his feet firmly planted at the same spots.

While Maxwell forced the entire world to sit up and take notice of his once-in-a-lifetime knock, Australian batting legend Mike Hussey wasn’t among those who got to witness history unfold before their eyes — either at the Wankhede Stadium itself or in front of a TV or mobile screen.

Hussey, part of two ICC World Cup-winning Australian teams in 2003 and 2007, had given up after Australia’s dramatic batting collapse and decided to hit the bed when Maxwell was just getting started.

“Maxwell was just getting started. He was on 15 or about 20, and that’s the last thing I remember. I was feeling a little despondent at that stage. Fell asleep. And I woke up in the morning and I checked the scores, and I thought ‘Nah, there must be some mistake’. This couldn’t have happened. Obviously watched the highlights, which was pretty much all of his innings,” Hussey said on the Mic Up segment of the latest episode of First Sports.

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“And what an incredible performance, especially with him going through so much pain with the cramping and everything, the situation of the game, Australia in the dire straits. It’s got to go down as one of the greatest of all time,” added the former middle-order batter.

Hussey, who has been part of the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL both as a player and as a member of the coaching staff, wasn’t entirely sure if it could be described as the greatest innings of all time but would surely rank in the top tier.

“Whether it was the greatest, we can probably argue that probably for the next year. I think the only argument I’d put forward was say Ricky Ponting made a massive hundred in a World Cup final to help Australia win. Adam Gilchrist made 149 in a World Cup final. Does that make it more special, I don’t know. But it’s got to be right up there with one of the greatest performances of all time,” Hussey added.

The Australian team, meanwhile, appear to be peaking at the right time heading into the knockout stage of the 13th edition of the World Cup. They had started their campaign with back-to-back defeats against India and South Africa, but have responded strongly since then by winning six matches in a row.

When asked about what makes Australia such a consistent side in major events, Hussey pointed towards the five-time world champions’ ability to build momentum as the tournament rolls along.

“Obviously you need to have a good squad to start with and I think Australia has another very good squad. So that sort of helps. And then one thing Australian teams have done well in the past is build momentum as the tournament goes along. It’s tournament play. Quite often, and it showed in this campaign as well, Australia started slowly, losing the first two games quite badly and people were starting to write them off. But they’ve slowly built their form and got better as the tournament’s gone on.”