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Two-time Men’s ODI World Cup-winning captain Ricky Ponting expressed his desire for Australia to draw immense inspiration from Glenn Maxwell’s extraordinary innings of 201 not out off 128 balls against Afghanistan. Ponting hopes the team can use this remarkable feat as a catalyst to secure their sixth World Cup title.
Facing a daunting situation at 91/7 in a run-chase of 292 at Wankhede Stadium, Maxwell joined forces with Pat Cummins, forging a match-winning 202-run partnership. Despite the skipper contributing only 12 runs, Maxwell, battling cramps in his calf, shin, hamstring, and toes, along with a bad back, played a solitary role in securing victory, delivering what Ponting dubbed as the greatest ODI innings of all time.
Ponting emphasized the importance of belief in winning from any situation, drawing parallels with the great teams he played with. He stated, “All the great teams that I’ve played with and all the great teams that I’ve been around have always had that belief that they can win from anywhere, and literally anywhere, even World Cup campaigns that I played in.”
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Reflecting on Australia’s ability to seize crucial moments in World Cups, Ponting praised their knack for winning big moments. He remarked, “They’ve got this knack of being able to just win the big moments, and today was a huge moment as they qualify for the World Cup semi-finals now and hopefully onwards and upwards for them.”
Maxwell’s historic innings also marked him as the first non-opener and the first Australian in men’s ODIs to achieve a double hundred. The thrilling comeback against Afghanistan marked Australia’s sixth consecutive win in the ODI World Cup, positioning them to face South Africa in the upcoming semi-finals.
In awe of Maxwell’s performance, Ponting expressed, “I have been around a lot of games playing and calling, and I have never seen anything like that, and I’ll be very surprised if I see anything like that ever again.” He compared it to Ben Stokes’ iconic Test innings in 2019 and deemed Maxwell’s feat even more significant for the Australian cricket team, propelling them into the World Cup semi-finals.