“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.
“It will be a good opportunity for us to try and work out some things and get our game plan ready for the back end of the year, as well as having the IPL straight after it. [It is about] getting used to the Indian conditions again and spending a lot of time working on my game over there, which will then lead into to the Blast and the Hundred.”
“I always said I was building towards that one-day series in the back of my mind. Now I’m closer to that workload that I need to be at”
Glenn Maxwell eyes a comeback in the ODIs against India
Maxwell is yet to bowl in the two games he has played, having pulled up sore after his first bowl in early February. And though he was available to bowl at the back end of the Shield game, he was not required. Maxwell has opted not to play in the Marsh Cup this week because 50-over cricket requires some higher-intensity running. But he is edging closer to being able to handle that, and expects to be right for the ODIs 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,” Maxwell said. “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%.”
Maxwell revealed he is also not quite where he needs to be mentally from a batting perspective, having registered scores of 5 and 0 in his first first-class game since 2019. But he is confident that will come with more time in the middle.
“Probably, mentally, batting in that position, I’ll probably wasn’t quite there,” Maxwell said. “In the nets, you can do all the hard work, but to try and get that mental application back in a game is obviously a different thing. So that’s probably something I’m working on over the next few games – club cricket on Saturday and the Shield game as well. A few more hits out there, and just try and build up that match intensity.”