Glenn Maxwell was asked to pick his all-time ODI XI during a recent interaction. The legendary all-rounder went on to name a unique squad, comprising only
Indian and Australian players.
Interestingly, Maxwell ignored Sachin Tendulkar, the leading run-getter in ODI cricket, picking Rohit Sharma instead as the batter to open with David Warner. The 37-year-old explained that he wanted to have a left-right combination at the top of the order.
"Rohit Sharma has pretty good stats. And I'm going to go Davey (David Warner) - average 45, strike-rate 97, 22 hundreds. Two pretty clear openers. Could've gone Sachin, but I'm going to go right-left (combination) to start," Maxwell stated, in the video posted by Fox Cricket.
Maxwell then went on to choose Virat Kohli, Ricky Ponting and Michael Bevan in his middle order, MS Dhoni as his wicketkeeper-batter, and Shane Watson as the all-rounder. Meanwhile, in the bowling department, he went with Australian icons Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee alongside Indian stalwart Jasprit Bumrah. Former India Test captain Anil Kumble got the nod as the specialist spinner in the side.
However, it was brought to Maxwell's notice that he had picked six Australian players instead of the maximum of five that was allowed. The Kew-born corrected this by leaving Warner out of the lineup and bringing in the Master Blaster - Tendulkar.
"I might have to get rid of Davey. Davey goes, Sachin's in. To be fair, Sachin's got three times the runs," Maxwell said.
Glenn Maxwell's all-time ODI XI: Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ricky Ponting, Michael Bevan, MS Dhoni (WK), Shane Watson, Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, Jasprit Bumrah, Anil Kumble.
Maxwell is unlikely to feature in the white-ball matches between India and Australia, starting with the three-ODI series on October 19. He has been sidelined after fracturing his arm while bowling at the nets to Mitchell Owen ahead of the T20I series against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui.
