Sydney: Dashing Australian batsman Glenn Maxwell on Saturday said the Indian team should remember that it hasn't won a single game against his side this summer and the hosts intend to keep it that way in Thursday's ICC Cricket World Cup semi-final against the defending champions.
Asked how difficult will it be for Australia to stop the unbeaten Indian juggernaut, Maxwell replied, “I think we targetted them pretty well this summer. They haven't won a game against us all through the summer. Hopefully that is pretty clear in their memories.”
“We can make the most of that (all win record). We've been dominant all summer in the ODI format. We want to continue that.”
But Maxwell did praise the Indian side for its consistency that helped it reach the last four stage.
“India are a very good side. They wouldn't be here in the semi-finals if they weren't a good side. We have to bring our A game when we play them this week,” the IPL star said with a note of caution.
Although the media interaction at the Sydney airport “felt like IPL” to Maxwell with only three Aussie reporters in the mix, he didn't feel that playing against Ashwin or Jadeja in the IPL would matter much as his role in this national team set-up is different.
“The IPL is a lot different to the World Cup. It is different pressure and different situation. I bat at No 6 (for Australia) and there are still five guys ahead of me, who are going to be batting first. Hopefully, they can make the most of the conditions. My job is to finish it off.”
When someone asked if he reckons the contest to be 50-50, Maxwell had a tongue-in-cheek counter query, “What are the bookmakers saying?”
Many past Aussie greats term the India versus Australia rivalry as the greatest in international cricket currently but for the maverick Maxwell, Ashes is still sacrosanct.
“There are a lot of big rivalries in international cricket. Every team that we play against, there is like some sort of rivalry or history attached. For Australia, the Ashes, is still probably our biggest and oldest rivalry.”
Virat Kohli has tormented Australia but Maxwell believes that there won't be separate but a general gameplan for India which has been the case all summer.
“We haven't had a team meet yet, but it will be pretty similar to the summer. We did pretty well during the summer against them. I am sure we will go ahead with similar plans and we will have a few tricks up our sleeve,” he answered with a smile.
