Sunil Gavaskar goes from Glenn Maxwell critic to admirer after all-rounder's blistering knock vs Netherlands

Glenn Maxwell is unorthodox, he is belligerent and he likes doing things his own way. Against the Netherlands, the right-hander turned Sunil Gavaskar’s pointed criticism into high praise. Speaking before this match between Australia and Netherlands in Delhi, Sunil Gavaskar had heavily criticised Maxwell for his poor run of form in the tournament.

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The former India captain was not too impressed with his shot selection against Pakistan. Maxwell had been out for a golden duck after attempting a wild slog against Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Speaking on the show on Star Sports, Gavaskar said that when Maxwell batted at number 3 for RCB, he was far more careful as he wanted to make a contribution in every match. However, now that he bats in the middle order, he tends to be careless.

“Here he is batting at 5, 6, and 7. In cricket, there is a thin line between carefree and careless. He has been on the careless side (in this World Cup) more. That first-ball dismissal against Pakistan, what kind of a shot was that? So clearly, (he was) careless and not carefree,” Gavaskar said.

However, Maxwell was in all the mood to make his presence felt at this World Cup and the way he stepped up on Wednesday showed his determination to win the match for his side. When he came in to bat at No. 6, the right-hander broke several records with his power-hitting. He achieved the fastest-ever World Cup century off 40 balls.

Read: Maxwell’s reverse switch hit mayhem gives extra wings to mighty Aussies

In this process, he also set a new Australian record for the fastest century in ODIs. Apart from all these feats, Maxwell became the first Australian to score 100 or more runs in the final ten overs of an ODI. The right-hander smacked eight sixes in his innings, which was the second-highest number of sixes hit by an Australian in a World Cup match.

Maxwell ended with 106 runs off just 44 balls and powered Australia to total of 399/8. In response, the Netherlands were bundled out for just 90 runs as Australia secured their biggest victory in World Cup history in terms of runs, winning by 309.

After the match, Gavaskar couldn’t stop praising Maxwell’s switch hits and reverse sweeps. Gavaskar said that Maxwell played one of the most incredible shots in cricket and that for shots like those, he should be awarded 12 runs.

“They just didn’t know where to bowl. They tried slower ones, they tried bowling around the midriff. It was incredible bating. I mean, I took 40 balls to get off the mark and he scored a century,” he said during the post-match show on the channel.