Virat Kohli is the second highest run-getter in ODIs and has most centuries in the format.
Maxwell claims that Virat Kohli, his former teammate from Royal Challengers Bengaluru, is the greatest ODI player he has ever seen. He selected Australian Steve Smith for Tests and West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell for T20 cricket.
Maxwell shared the dressing room with Virat Kohli for four seasons in the IPL, from 2021 to 2024. While playing for Australia in international cricket, he has also relished a number of encounters with the legendary Indian batter.
“In ODI cricket, the best I ever saw was Kohli. Some of the things he has done against us (Australia) have been ridiculous. He just has more time. He is able to put the ball wherever he wants in the field and is on a different level," Maxwell stated on the Keepin' It Cricket podcast, which also featured Alyssa Healy and Brad Haddin.
Kohli had broken Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most ODI centuries in the ICC World Cup 2023 and is the second-highest run-getter in the format behind Tendulkar. He also has a very good record against Australia, scoring 2,232 runs in Tests, 2,525 in ODIs and 794 runs in T20Is since making his international debut in 2008.
Maxwell believes it is difficult to ignore Russell's "ridiculous" potency in T20 cricket. He claimed that it is nearly impossible to stop the Jamaican all-rounder once he gets rolling. Russell's bowling and fielding skills were also lauded by Maxwell, who referred to him as the "perfect cricketer."
“In T20 cricket, it’s probably hard to go past someone like Andre Russell. Dre Russ’ power is just ridiculous. If he gets going, you can’t stop him. He hits the ball so hard and so far. To back that up, he was bowling at 140 kph and fielding in the hot spots. He was literally the perfect cricketer," Maxwell said.
Additionally, Maxwell thinks it is hard to look past Steve Smith in Test cricket. During Australia's 2017 Test tour of India, the former skipper was "batting on a different planet," and the Australian all-rounder claimed he felt fortunate to be in the same dressing room as Smith.
“In Test cricket, it’s probably hard to go past Smudge (Steve Smith). I was lucky to be part of the Test squad in 2017 for that series in India, where he scored a couple of hundreds and was batting on a different planet. I think he scored three hundreds during that tour and was just incredible. He was simply too good, and I felt lucky to be part of that squad and witness it," Maxwell added.