Glenn Maxwell, the explosive Australian batsman, was all praise for the Indian duo of Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja after their late-order counter-attacking display helped the visitors come out of an otherwise disappointing ODI series with a consolation win in the third game.
With India 152/5 in the 32nd over of the first innings, Maxwell said the home team "knew we were one wicket away". However, Pandya (92*) and Jadeja (66*) then batted superbly to take India to a defendable score of 302/5 and brought the pressure right back on the Aussies.
"Yes, certainly, I think, the way the wicket was probably behaving through out, we had them 5 for 150 and one wicket away from I suppose the bowling line-up, so we knew we were one wicket away," Maxwell said at the post-match press conference on Wednesday (December 2) in Canberra, as quoted by PTI.
"But, unfortunately, the way they were able to play, they put pressure on, they (Hardik and Jadeja) accelerated and took the game away from us with some really clean hitting," he added as Australia lost by 13 runs.
While many believe in-form Maxwell's (59) dismissal off ace quick Jasprit Bumrah (2/43) was the game-changing moment of the chase, he himself thinks if his middle-order partner Alex Carey (38) hadn't got run-out, the outcome could've been different.
"I thought probably the changing point was the run-out of Carey, which was probably 100 per cent my fault," he said. "Unfortunately, when you sort of leave yourself with, we were six down at that stage, makes it little bit tougher, because you know one mistake, it can turn all around pretty quickly, I think that (Carey run-out) was probably a key moment of the game."
Maxwell acknowledged the efforts of leg-spinner Adam Zampa, who ended the series with 7 wickets against some class players of spin bowling.
"He (Zampa) has been exceptional for the last few years and has figured himself as one of the best leg spinners in the world in ODI cricket. He just seems to get the job done day in and day out," Maxwell said.
"He is accurate, he knows what he wants from his field, he knows what he wants from the game, just feel like he is reading the game really well. He sticks to his strengths and puts pressure on the batters."
“We saw how well he bowled in England, he was right up there as one of the players of the series and he just seems to get better and better."
Being an experienced member of the side, Maxwell also offered words of encouragement to young debutant all-rounder Cameron Green.
"It was seriously impressive, and he has impressed a lot of people with the way he has gone about it, not just with the ball, the way he bowled to Virat (Kohli) that little spell, the way he fielded was exceptional for a big man to move like that," he said.
"He is an extremely smooth mover. The way he went about his batting, took the game on, there are good signs ahead for him and he is an impressive young man," Maxwell signed off.
