Glenn Maxwell believes IPL in UAE will be 'level playing field' for T20 World Cup
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Maxwell also said that the IPL stint will help the preparation of the Australian players. "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," he said.
Australian cricketer Glenn Maxwell, who plays for Royal Challenger Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) believes that the shift of IPL 2021 from India to the UAE will benefit Australia and other teams well in the upcoming T20 World Cup, which will kick off from October 17 in UAE, just after the 14th edition of the IPL.
"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’s probably levelled the playing field a fair bit," said Maxwell as quoted by the official website of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
"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's probably levelled the playing field a fair bit," he added.
IPL 2021 will resume on September 19 as it was halted mid way after being suspended in May due to multiple cases inside its bio-bubble when the tournament was underway in India.
Maxwell also said that the IPL stint will help the preparation of the Australian players. "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," he said.
"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," he added.
Some of the top players of the Australian team, including Steve Smith, David Warner, Aaron Finch and Pat Cummins, have not competed in the last few months and will be back in action at the IPL.
Being drawn in a tough group alongside champions West Indies, England and South Africa, the Australians will begin their campaign on October 23 against South Africa.
Commenting on the draw, Maxwell said, "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," he added.
(With inputs from agencies)