IND vs AUS | Haven’t recovered from injury as fast as I would have liked, admits Glenn Maxwell

After the remaining two Tests, Australia are set to play against India in an upcoming three-match ODI series with Glenn Maxwell returning to the squad. The all-rounder will return to the international circuit after suffering a freak leg accident in November last year. The cricketer will have a hectic schedule ahead of him which includes the IPL and the ODI World Cup. Reflecting on his return to competitive action, Maxwell admitted that the recovery hasn’t happened as fast as he would have liked. 

"It probably hasn't happened as fast as I would have liked," Maxwell said on Thursday. "I probably would have liked to be playing cricket a little bit earlier. But I think the fact that I knew the timeline for the one-day side - and that was probably the realistic goal - I was able to manipulate my rehab program to fit the timeline that I was racing against.”

"Having not played for three-and-a-half months, I made a conscious decision to make sure I filled up my calendar with cricket to lead into that World Cup at the back end of the year. Obviously, there's the one-day series which is going to be a big series, especially with the World Cup in India at the back end of the year,” Maxwell stated, reported ESPNcricinfo. 

The all-rounder missed the ODI series against England in November and the BBL but has returned to the domestic circuit this week. He played in the Sheffield Shield cricket for Victoria scoring 5 and 0 runs in the first and second innings respectively. The 34-year-old didn’t bowl in both innings but looks forward to being 100% fit ahead of the ODI against India. 

"Even just looking at the data from the last day of the Shield game, I started to get back to what a full one-day game looks like. So that time on my feet, that speed back up, it's all heading in the right direction. I always said I was building towards that one-day series in the back of my mind. So now I'm sort of closer to that workload that I need to be at. It's about trying to maintain that, get the pace back up, and then hopefully, in a couple of weeks' time be 100%,” he explained.