Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, who recently recovered from a horrific broken leg, has been ruled out once again after injuring his ankle in Durban on August 28, ahead of Australia’s limited overs tour of South Africa.
According to the ICC, Maxwell was training for the T20I match against South Africa slated for 30 August when he suffered an injury, and will now fly home to recover and to be with his wife for the birth of their first child. Australian selectors believe Maxwell will be able to recover in a month’s time and should be fit to play the World Cup in India.
Days before his departure to South Africa, I spoke to Maxwell. Excerpts from the interview are below:
Ritam Mitra: Maxi, we’re obviously here to talk about cricket but congratulations on the upcoming big news (expecting a child). Are you more nervous about the World Cup, or becoming a dad for the first time?
Glenn Maxwell: Both very nerve wracking! No, I’m excited by both opportunities. It’s going to be a different summer being a dad but it’s a challenge I’m looking forward to.
Ritam Mitra: You just finished up this successful little stint with Warwickshire and you’re standing with me talking about a World Cup. Do you think you’d be here at this time after your horrific injury at the end of last year? Did you expect to get back as quickly?
Glenn Maxwell: It’s hard to say. There’s a lot of things that went through my mind. I thought I was going to be ready earlier without knowing the extreme severity of my injury, and I was probably a bit naive through it all. I thought I was going to be able to recover a lot faster having only sort of done minor injuries throughout my whole career. I think the worst thing I’d done [until breaking my leg] was like a grade 2 PCL tear in BBL 01. Apart from that I think I’m pretty lucky with injuries and it’s the first time I’ve had a forced break. I probably didn’t give it enough credit for how much work I actually had to do through coming back and once I finally did get back, I’d realise there was still a lot of work to do.
Ritam Mitra: One of the things that brings a smile to most fan’s faces is the romance between you, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Can you tell me more about that bromance and the side of Kohli that maybe the public don’t get to see? And what will you take from that relationship when you come up against him in a couple of months?
Glenn Maxwell: I think one thing that we both have in common is we’re both cricket tragics. We’ll sit there and watch other games together. Especially when we were in the bubble, we used to sit there most nights and watch the games together, and for no reason, we weren’t even playing against those teams next, but we just sort of get emotionally involved in the game and the result and get frustrated at what’s happening on the field. We just used to watch them together and we just became close. And we talk about batting techniques, a lot at training. I try helping him with his hitting technique. He tries to help me with just batting in general (laughs)!
But I suppose, we go into in-depth conversations I think, in the way that we talk about the game. That’s something that I’ve really enjoyed. And he’s very open and honest with the information that he gives about the game and his experience – it’s weird to think that we’re the same age, he’s been playing for a little bit longer than me.
Ritam Mitra: Fans love hearing you mic’d up for the Big Bash. Uzzy (Usman) is going be taking up the stint with Fox Sports when he’s done. Is commentary a natural next step for you? If so, who are your dream commentary partners?
Glenn Maxwell: I think it’s either commentary or coaching. I’m still trying to work that out. It was a big part of the reason I went to Warwickshire, to start that developmental side of coaching. For the commentary side, I did a little bit of radio with BBC for the T20 finals day over there, which was really enjoyable. I really want to stay in the game after I finish playing – what that looks like afterwards I’m not sure. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed doing the bits and pieces in the BBL over the last few years. The last year, not being able to play the whole summer, I’ve had more time to do some commentary stuff and enjoyed my work with Gilly (Adam Gilchrist) and Howie (Mark Howard). I have had some really good stints with them, so that was pretty fun.
Ritam Mitra: Awesome. Thanks for your time, I really appreciate it.
Glenn Maxwell: No worries, cheers.
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