WATCH | Umesh Yadav breaks Glenn Maxwell's bat into two pieces
On the very first ball of Day 2, Maxwell's willow broke down into two pieces when he tried to block an Umesh Yadav delivery. The Aussie, who made a well-crafted century on his Test comeback, could do nothing but just smile at it and asked the 12th man to get him a new bat from the dressing room.
When you are not used to working for a long period, it can be a very difficult task to play a tiring innings in a Test match. No, we are not talking about Glenn Maxwell but his bat. The talented Australian all-rounder is known for many things but being a patient Test player is not one of them.
An injury to Mitch Marsh opened the door for Maxwell to make a comeback to the Test team after a gap of over two years. He came in to bat with Australia faltering at a score of 140/4 and forged an impressive partnership with Steve Smith to put Australia in command of the match. By the end of Day 1, Maxwell sat at an impressive score of 82 having played 147 balls - 33 more than he had played in his entire Test career.
It will be missed #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/caSJupocbV
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) March 17, 2017
On the very first ball of Day 2, however, Maxwell's willow finally gave way. As he tried to block an Umesh Yadav delivery, his bat just broke into two pieces right before his eyes. The Aussie asked the 12th man to get him a new one from his kit.
The new bat appeared to be the one that he uses in the limited-over format as he started scoring at a brisk pace but 38 balls later was dismissed by a Ravindra Jadeja. By then, Maxwell had completed his century, though, and put Australia in complete control of the Test match.