OPINION
Follow UsSo far in IPL 2022, 20 spinners have sent down a total of 15 or more overs. In that, five have managed to maintain an economy rate under 7.00. Glenn Maxwell is one of them.
Now, the statistic above does not suggest that Maxwell is a spinner that possesses the same quality as Sunil Narine, Rashid Khan, Moeen Ali and Krunal Pandya, the other four bowlers with a sub-seven economy. Nor does it mean that he’s been having a season better than Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar, all of whom have been significantly more expensive despite being frontline bowlers for their respective sides.
It does, however, signify one thing: that the Australian has quietly been playing a pivotal role for his side with the ball in hand.
On Sunday at the Wankhede, for the second game running, it was Maxwell’s exploits with the ball that set the tone for Faf du Plessis’ side in the second innings and helped them defend what was a total that was seemingly chaseable.
Unlike a few days ago at the MCA Stadium in Pune, Maxwell, against SRH, did not have the luxury of coming in to bowl with the field spread out. He also did not have at his disposal a wicket that was turning prodigiously.
And technically, he did not have a ‘favorable’ match-up too. While it was true that SRH boasted a left-hander up top in the form of Abhishek Sharma, the youngster, prior to the RCB clash, had taken a liking to all spinners in his first 9 games of the season.
Versus spin he’d averaged 57.5 while striking at 169.12 — compared to 29.57 and 129.38 against pacers — and against off-spinners he’d struck at 158.8 without being dismissed. In fact, heading into the RCB game, Abhishek, inside the powerplay against off-spinners in IPL 2022, had struck 23 off the 11 balls he faced.
Maxwell took the new ball knowing he could travel the distance, if not get demolished, if he got his radar wrong. After all, It was less than a fortnight ago that young Abhishek ravaged arguably the best T20 spinner in the world, Rashid Khan.
In truth, skipper Faf du Plessis was merely hoping for Maxwell to slide in a ‘cheap’ over. But by the end of the sixth ball, the off-spinner ended up putting RCB in complete command of the game, bowling a perfect over that comprised a run and two wickets. SRH might be a side that heavily relies on its middle-order, but the double-strike ended up proving to be a marked psychological blow that pegged them back significantly.
The first of the two wickets was, of course, not Maxwell's. Kane Williamson perished for a diamond duck, and that was owing to a terrible miscommunication with his partner that resulted in a catastrophic run-out. The wicket of Abhishek Sharma, too, was an unforced error from the batter, but that the mistake happened in the first place was owing to some impeccable discipline shown by the off-spinner, who bowled Hazlewood-esque lines and lengths. Relatively speaking, of course.
Post the dismissal of Williamson, four of the next five balls Maxwell bowled in the over were aimed at the stumps. He gave no width to both the left and right handers, and also made sure they were not able to get under the ball or rock back and pull it by bowling at an uncomfortable good-length from where the ball seemed to skid.
Abhishek almost chopped the ball back onto his stumps in the fourth ball of the over, but was saved by the fact that he was looking to hit through the off-side. But on ball number five, he committed the heinous crime of playing across the line — and against the turn — and that cost him dearly. The batter missed. The bowler, Maxwell, hit.
Maxwell bowled an expensive second — conceding 12, with Markram hitting a four and a six — but it didn’t matter. He’d already over-delivered by then and had done the job his captain had asked of him.
2-0-13-1 from the sixth bowler? Any captain in the world would bite your arm off for it in even a low-scoring encounter, let alone when you’re defending 193.
It is now in consecutive games, then, that Maxwell has proven to be a kind of x-factor with the ball.
In RCB’s previous encounter against CSK, with his side aiming to defend 174, the off-spinner had to perform a markedly different role, that of troubling the CSK batters — in the middle-overs — on a wicket that offered plenty of turn. In other words, du Plessis wanted Maxwell to replicate what Moeen Ali had done in the first innings (4-0-28-2).
Maxwell, on that occasion, did not just equal the Englishman; he bettered him. Du Plessis introduced Maxwell into the attack when CSK were in command of the chase at 59/1, and the off-spinner, astonishingly, turned the game on its head by the end of his second over, removing both Robin Uthappa and the in-form Ambati Rayudu, who entered the clash on the back of scores of 78, 40 and 46.
He eventually finished with figures of 2/22 off his 4 and while the commentators opted to give the Player of the Match award to Harshal Patel, Maxwell’s was a spell that was equally impactful, if not more.
Earlier in the season, too, Maxwell made handy contributions with the ball that went unnoticed. His 0/14 (2) against Delhi Capitals and 1/11 (2) against the Lucknow Super Giants — in which he took the key wicket of Krunal at a crucial juncture — both played crucial hands in RCB coming out on top whilst defending chaseable targets.
But with the wickets slowing down, he’s now being trusted more by his skipper, and his impact, in turn, is becoming more noticeable.
RCB have reason to believe that his impact will sustain, for that is what transpired at the T20 World Cup in UAE last year.
Keen to field Matthew Wade at No.7, Aaron Finch trusted Maxwell as his go-to fifth bowler, and the Victorian delivered, finishing the tournament with an economy of 7.14. Maxwell, really, had a T20 World Cup to forget with the bat, but what’s not spoken about enough is how he made up for it by chipping-in with the ball. It ultimately proved pivotal in the Aussies lifting their maiden T20WC title.
Time will only tell if Maxwell’s bowling efforts will help RCB go all the way. Right at this time, however, the Australian’s golden arm is playing a silent hand in the Reds’ playoff charge.
