Last Update on: November 8th, 2023 at 10:20 am
Ajay Jadeja, the mentor of the Afghanistan team, tried his best to put his team in the driver’s seat during their epic clash against Australia at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday (November 7).
Afghanistan were looking destined to register yet another historic win in the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 before a monumental knock from Glenn Maxwell left them heartbroken. Batting first, Afghanistan posted a competitive total of 291 for 5. Opener Ibrahim Zadran starred with the bat for his team as he scored Afghanistan’s first-ever century in the ODI World Cup.
The right-handed batsman scored 129 runs off 143 runs. Towards the end of the innings, star spinner Rashid Khan also played a fine cameo of 35 runs from just 18 balls with the help of 2 fours and 3 sixes. In reply, Australia were in all sorts of trouble.
Ajay Jadeja’s antics in the dressing room:
Naveen-ul-Haq gave his team a solid start by dismissing Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh cheaply to leave Australia reeling at 43 for 2. And when Marnus Labuschagne walked out to bat, Ajay Jadeja did all he could to unsettle the Aussie batter.
Soon after walking out to bat, Labuschagne complained of his vision being interrupted by constant movement in the Afghanistan dressing room. And it did not really go down well with Ajay Jadeja who decided to respond by breaking into impromptu dance moves.
Australian players complained there was a lot of movement in the Afghanistan dressing room.
– Ajay Jadeja started dancing…!!! pic.twitter.com/nAixOBGb3p
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) November 7, 2023
Ajay Jadeja’s actions might have worked for a while as Australia lost wickets in a heap to find themselves reeling at 91 for 7. With 201 runs still needed, the five-time world champions were staring down the barrel and were looking set to suffer their first defeat against Afghanistan.
However, Maxwell came up with arguably the greatest ODI knock of all time to power his team to a miraculous win. In an innings where no Australian player managed to score more than 24 runs, he scored 201 runs. Maxwell became the first Australian batter to score an ODI double century and also the first in the world to score a double ton while chasing.
He shared an unbeaten stand of 202 runs with captain Pat Cummins who scored 12 off 68 balls during the partnership. Maxwell’s 201-run knock came off 128 balls with the help of 21 fours and 10 sixes.
