Pakistan vs Australia: Mark Waugh believes Glenn Maxwell should've been a part of the Test squad

Former Australia cricketer and selector Mark Waugh believes Glenn Maxwell should have been picked for Australia’s series against Pakistan in the UAE. Maxwell is widely known as a strong player of spin and a batsman capable of changing a game’s momentum within a session or two with his aggressive batting. He last played a Test for Australia more than a year ago against Bangladesh in Chittagong.

Maxwell was part of the Victoria side that clinched the domestic limited-overs tournament with a convincing victory over Tasmania at the Junction Oval in Melbourne. Meanwhile, the Australians taking on Pakistan in Dubai are sliding towards a defeat after losing all ten wickets inside the space of 60 runs in the first innings, with debutant offspinner Bilal Asif wreaking havoc with the figures of 6 for 36.

Waugh, who resigned as a selector earlier this year, stated that he would have picked Maxwell to see off Pakistan’s bowlers in the sorts of conditions in which the all-rounder scored his only Test century – against India in Ranchi last year.

He can take the attack to the bowlers

“It’s tough because we’ve lost our two best batsmen, haven’t we? And three counting [Cameron] Bancroft, so there’s only a certain pool of players that are good enough to play Test cricket. It’s not the time to panic, I don’t think there are many players there that would make a big difference – the only player I would have picked is Glenn Maxwell, that’s not there,” he said while speaking to ESPNcricinfo.

“I think he’s a guy with ability, can change the game, he’s a good player of spin, he can actually take the attack to the bowling side. So that’s the only guy I would have that’s not there, and maybe you can bring back Matt Renshaw for the second Test. But all the other guys? That’s about the best we’ve got at the moment,” Mark Waugh added.

Maxwell and fellow Victorian Peter Handscomb were two curious omissions from the Test squad. Test specialist Matt Renshaw, who is travelling with the Australian side, was also left out of the first Test. Tim Paine’s side fielded as many as three debutants in Dubai, including Aaron Finch, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne. Australia are currently chasing a target of 462 to win the first Test match against Pakistan.

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