If you ever doubt Davey, it's an absolute no-no: Maxwell

Glenn Maxwell has backed his Australian teammate David Warner to come good in the 2021 T20 World Cup. The left-handed opener has been in horrible form of late but Maxwell has warned everyone to write off Warner at their own peril.

Warner managed scores of 0 and 2 in the two games that he featured in the second half of the Indian Premier League 2021. The 34-year-old was then left out of the Sunrisers Hyderabad playing XI for the remainder of the season. Even in the first warm-up game against New Zealand, Warner was dismissed for a golden duck after Martin Guptill pulled off a one-handed stunner at first slip.

"If you ever doubt Davey, it's an absolute no-no. You know he's going to turn it around. He's a superstar of all three formats. He's made so many runs. He's going to go down as one of the greats of the game. Unfortunately, he got Martin Guptill'd yesterday with an absolute hanger. Gup seems to do that a lot against us,” said Maxwell.

"Those sorts of things happen when you're searching for it. But you know when he gets out there come game time, come the 23rd (of October), regardless of what happens in the next practice game, you know he's going to hit the ground running. He's going to be a big player for us."

Maxwell, who had an outstanding IPL season, didn’t play the first warm-up game but is expected to feature in Australia’s next practice game against India on Wednesday. The 33-year-old is going to be a crucial member for Australia in the showpiece event but Maxwell is putting his money on Mitchell Marsh, expecting him to make a huge impact.

"I think Mitchell Marsh is going to have a massive tournament. I don't think I've seen anyone hit the ball better, ever. We all gather around his net and just watch him hit the ball. It's been pretty extraordinary to watch him go about his business at the moment. 

“I'd be really surprised if he didn't have a really good tournament. He's got his bowling as well. His presence around the group regardless of what he's doing is second to none. He's the guy everyone wants in their team, he's flying at the moment, so I'm expecting him to have a good tournament."

Playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore, Maxwell was phenomenal in the recently concluded IPL 2021. The right-handed dasher slammed 513 runs in 14 innings at an average of 42.75 and a strike rate of just over 144. Maxwell was one of the few batters who scored freely on the difficult UAE surfaces. Maxwell thanked Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers for boosting his morale.

"In my mind I'm not sure I've completely embraced (being Australia's match winner) … It's not, 'If I play well, we're going to win a World Cup,' there are no thoughts of that. Every day was a learning experience, every day I was finding something new out – I was being a sponge to Virat and AB, just watching the way they go about things. That's always been the one thing in the IPL I've been extremely thankful of – the opportunities that it gives you to learn off the best players in the world.

"I was extremely fortunate to have two of the greats of the game in the same team and in the same batting line up and were open to sharing their experiences and talk to me about their game. It makes you feel 10-feet tall when you've got your backing and they're watching you or asking you questions. It just makes you feel confident, it just makes you feel happy. It was just nice to have a nice, comfortable environment."

"If I continue the process I've been doing at the IPL, I know I'm going to have success. t's a nice position to be in mentally that I've come off a good run of form. I'm not overthinking the stuff in-game."

Talking about the surfaces, Maxwell said: "I don't think it's going to be (scores in the) 220s and 230s that people have come to expect from small grounds like Sharjah. In saying that if someone gets in from the Powerplay and gets going, anything can happen because if you get used to conditions you can certainly make the most of them and dominate a team.

"But the trend of the games over here has been (that) it's been really tough in the last four or five hours – the ball gets softer, the bounce almost disappears. There weren't too many people that (scored) over 10-an-over for the last five overs. It's not like I suppose other places around the world where you can cash in later on. I think it's about cashing in at the front end and then try to hold off as long as possible."

Australia will start their campaign against South Africa in Abu Dhabi on October 23.