T20 World Cup 2021 | Playing IPL in UAE will benefit Australia players ahead of T20 World Cup, believes Glenn Maxwell
Glenn Maxwell has stated that playing the IPL in UAE conditions will be extremely beneficial for Australia ahead of the T20 World Cup, which begins on October 17. He also stated that the key factor to win the tournament is to get a good start, which can boost confidence of the players.
The second leg of IPL 2021 is scheduled to begin on September 19 in UAE. Glenn Maxwell, who represents the Royal Challengers Bangalore team at the IPL, is of the opinion that the tournament in UAE will benefit Australia players ahead of the T20 World Cup, which begins two days after the IPL 2021 final.
“The fact we’ve got a lot of guys going over for the IPL as a preparation, get a few games in those conditions, it’s going to do wonders for our batters. Our bowlers are going to be up and firing by the time the tournament starts. I can assure you everyone is looking forward to hitting the ground running over there,” Maxwell told icc-cricket.com
“The tournament being in UAE probably levels the playing field a little bit. Probably makes it a little bit easier for there not to be as much of a home ground advantage. For the IPL to be there to have a lot of international players that are potentially going to be in that World Cup over there playing, I think it has probably levelled the playing field a fair bit.”
Maxwell believes that getting off to a good start will be crucial to Australia's success at the marquee event.
“The key for us to win a T20 World Cup this year is to get off to a fast start. Teams that can get off to a good start early in the tournament, get a couple of players on fire, get a couple of batters in good form, and get a couple of bowlers taking early wickets, that is the key to a lot of teams winning these tournaments,” the all-rounder explained.
Australia haven't had a great run in T20I cricket of late, having lost each of their last five bilateral series, the most recent ones with a 1-4 margin in West Indies and Bangladesh respectively. At the T20 World Cuo, they are placed alongside England, South Africa and West Indies in the Group 1 of the Super 12 stage for now, where two more teams will be added after the Qualifiers round.
Maxwell is confident that the team is full of match-winners and that they can be a tough team to stop on any given day.
“You look through our line-up, we’ve got a team full of match winners and guys that on their day can take the game away from the opposition. I think that’s what it’s going to take. Any day when it’s one of our players’ chance to go and win us a game – if we can take that (chance), it’s going to be hard for anyone to stop us," said the 32-year-old.
"There are no weak teams in this World Cup and we know that. We know we've also got a very good chance of beating everyone on our day. Both groups are going to be tough, it doesn't matter. As I said before there are no weak teams in this World Cup so every game is going to be tough for us. If we play our best, I feel that's going to be good enough on the day. I think we'll be focussing solely on what we can do every game and hopefully, that is good enough at the end of the day."
Australia will play South Africa in their first match of the T20 World Cup 2021 in Abu Dhabi.