World Cup: 'I have never seen such batting', even the God of Cricket was happy after seeing Maxwell's stormy innings, Viru-Akram said this

The 39th match of the World Cup 2023 played between Australia and Afghanistan will be known by one name only. The fans will remember the innings played by Glenn Maxwell on Tuesday in Wankhede, Mumbai for many years. The way this Australian batsman single-handedly took the Kangaroos to the semi-finals, hardly any batsman in the world could do this. Chasing the target of 292 runs, the Australian team had at one time lost seven wickets for 91 runs and it seemed that Afghanistan was moving towards a big victory, but Maxwell agreed to something else.

The number of fours and sixes he hit at Wankhede left Afghanistan's bowlers breathless and along with helping the team win, he also completed his double century. He remained unbeaten after scoring 201 runs in 128 balls with the help of 21 fours and 10 sixes. Sachin Tendulkar, who is called the 'God of Cricket', could not live without praising Maxwell.

Sachin wrote on X (earlier Twitter)- Ibrahim Zadran played an excellent innings and took Afghanistan to a good position. Afghanistan made a good start to the second innings and played good cricket for 70 overs in both innings. But Maxwell's innings in the last 25 overs was enough to change his fortunes. From max pressure to max performance, this is the best innings of ODI cricket that I have seen in my life.

Sehwag also praised

At the same time, former Indian explosive batsman Virender Sehwag, who played with Maxwell in Punjab Kings, has also praised him a lot. Sehwag is the same cricketer who has criticized Maxwell many times for his lack of form in the IPL. There is no getting along between the two, but despite this, Sehwag has praised Maxi a lot. Sehwag wrote- I was aware of this innings. The innings of 200 runs in a run chase is one of the all-time greats in ODI cricket. Had great support from Pat Cummins. An inning that will be remembered for a long time.

Vaughan-Laxman said this

Former England cricketer Michael Vaughan wrote – Best innings of ODI so far. You can also call this innings the greatest of all time. At the same time, Yuzvendra Chahal, who played with Maxwell in Royal Challengers Bangalore, wrote – Incredible! Maxwell has committed the biggest robbery. 'Very very special' VVS Laxman has also praised Maxwell. He wrote- This is one of the greatest innings ever. Never give up. This innings was incredible. Commentator Harsha Bhogle wrote – It is now certain that Maxwell's name will be written in history. This will be the biggest innings played with the white ball.

Wasim Akram was declared the best ODI batsman

Wasim Akram, who is called the king of swing, was also surprised to see Maxwell's innings. He even declared that Maxi is currently the best batsman in the world in ODIs. While talking on the Pakistani TV show, Wasim said- I have not seen such an innings in my life. We have seen how one person can single-handedly get you out of a difficult situation and win the match. You must have passion. He had a sprain in his leg, but despite this, he faced the bowlers bravely at the crease and led Australia to a historic victory. He was in pain, but still, he did not lose courage. You see what an amazing inning Maxwell created history by playing.

Wasim praised Maxwell as well as Pat Cummins. He said- Captain Pat Cummins also needs to be praised. When you have difficult situations, then you can understand how to handle the situation by looking at Pat Cummins. He faced 68 balls and played an unbeaten inning of 12 runs, this innings of Cummins is also no less than a historic innings. Cummins was standing at the crease and continuously taking singles and giving strikes to Maxwell. Pat Cummins deserves praise. Maxwell's innings is surprising. By playing such innings, he has shown that he is the biggest ODI player in world cricket at present. Incredible, amazing, and unimaginable. I have played cricket for 28 years and have been working on cricket for 20 years. I had never seen such a charismatic innings before. This is amazing and will always be remembered.

What happened in the match?

Thanks to this inning of Maxwell, Australia also qualified for the semi-finals. They have 12 points from eight matches with six wins and two losses. The team will face South Africa in the semi-finals. At the same time, the teams of India and South Africa have already qualified. There is a competition between New Zealand, Pakistan, and Afghanistan for the fourth place. Batting first, Afghanistan scored 291 runs after losing five wickets in 50 overs. Ibrahim Zadran played an unbeaten inning of 129 runs in 143 balls with the help of eight fours and three sixes. He became the first player for Afghanistan to hit sixes in the World Cup.

At the same time, Rashid Khan remained unbeaten after scoring 35 runs in 18 balls with the help of two fours and three sixes. In reply, Australia scored 293 runs losing seven wickets in 46.5 overs. Of these, 201 runs were from Maxwell alone. Apart from them, David Warner 18, Travis Head 0, Mitchell Marsh 24, Marnus Labuschagne 14, Josh Inglis 0, Marcus Stoinis 6, and Mitchell Starc were out after scoring 3 runs. Captain Pat Cummins remained unbeaten after scoring 12 runs in 68 balls. There was an unbeaten partnership of 202 runs in 170 balls between Maxwell and Cummins.

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