Glenn Maxwell ruled out of South Africa tour: Here's why
What's the story
Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has been ruled out of the upcoming limited-overs tour of South Africa, later, this month, owing to a surgery he is scheduled to undergo on his left elbow.
Maxwell, who was recently in the headlines for taking a short sabbatical from the sport owing to mental health issues, had made a successful comeback.
Here is more on this.
Replacement
D'Arcy Short named Maxwell's replacement
Maxwell was initially in the squad for both the formats, as it would have been his first international assignment since the mental health break.
Nonetheless, now that he has been ruled out, while fellow all-rounder Marcus Stoinis was being deemed as his replacement, a report from The Roar states that D'Arcy Short has been roped in as the replacement.
Quote
We are disappointed to lose Glenn this close: Trevor Hohns
"We are disappointed to lose Glenn this close to the tour as we were looking forward to welcoming him back to the national side in both the 20- and 50-over formats after his break during the summer," said Trevor Hohns, Australia's national selector.
Confident on Short
Hohns confident on Short delivering
Speaking on bringing in Short as his replacement, Hohns said that he was confident of the former delivering, as he was brought in owing to him being inventive.
"Like Glenn, D'Arcy is an inventive, hard-hitting batsman who offers a handy spin-bowling option. We have no doubt he will make a positive contribution to the squad," he said.
The comeback
Maxwell made fine comeback following mental health break
As far as Maxwell's comeback is concerned, he made his return to the sport during the just-concluded edition of the Big Bash League (BBL).
Playing for Melbourne Stars, he scored 398 runs in 16 innings at a good average of 39.80 and a strike-rate of 148.50, including three half-centuries.
He was also the second-most run-scorer of his side, after Stoinis himself.
Maxwell's career
Maxwell has had a fine limited-overs career for Australia
As far as Maxwell's career for Australia is concerned, he has had a brilliant one.
So far, he has played 110 ODIs for the side, scoring 2,877 runs at an average of 32.32, including a century and 19 half-centuries.
As for T20Is, he has played 61 matches at a fine average of 35.02 and a strike-rate of 160, including three centuries and seven half-centuries.
Maxwell's records
Records held by Maxwell
As for some records held by Maxwell:
In 2011, he had slammed the fastest half-century in Australia's domestic one-day, off 19 deliveries.
He scored the fastest century by an Australian in the ICC World Cup (51).
He is the second Australian after Aaron Finch with the highest T20I score (145*).
He is the first batsman to score maiden T20 half-century as an opener.