Maxwell's maiden ton completes trifecta

Glenn Maxwell has confirmed his place among modern cricket’s most dynamic batsmen by becoming just the second Australian to complete a trifecta of centuries across all formats of the game.

Following a rollercoaster season that began with him being left out of Victoria’s Sheffield Shield side, Maxwell conquered the world’s top-ranked team by chalking up his maiden Test century on day two of the third Test in Ranchi.

Quick single: Kohli fails to take the field on day two

The 28-year-old, recalled to the Australia side in place of injured allrounder Mitch Marsh, is the 13th player to have notched tons in all three international formats, joining the likes of superstars Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, Faf du Plessis and Mahela Jayawardene.

But while Maxwell has made a name for himself as a swashbuckling, aggressive batsman, his knock in Ranchi was characterised more by patience than by power.

Coming in to join his skipper Steve Smith with the tourists in trouble at 4-140, the Victorian reined in his attacking instincts on a slow surface, with two sixes off Ravi Jadeja on day one just about the only departures from his steady approach.

He was forced to switch bats on the first ball of day two after a regulation length-ball from paceman Umesh Yadav snapped his blade clean at the splice.

But Maxwell appeared unaffected, bringing up the milestone off 180 balls with a dicey cut shot off Yadav, embracing Smith and proudly acknowledging his delighted teammates.

Underlining the uncharacteristic nature of Maxwell's innings, it's easily the slowest of his six first-class centuries to date; his previous hundreds came from 118, 122, 89, 147 and 101 deliveries.

He edged behind off Jadeja a short time later, his brilliant innings coming to an end on 104.

Shane Watson became the first Australian to complete the treble of a century in all formats in January last year when he blasted an unbeaten 124 in a T20I against India to add to his four Test and nine ODI tons.

Remarkably, Maxwell’s Ranchi hundred is just his third in international cricket, though his two others were equally as memorable as his one against India.

Image Id: DF6A37033A69492A85F1EF336DF1AB24 Image Caption: Australia's dressing-room acknowledges Maxwell's maiden ton // BCCI

The right-hander smashed an epic 145 not out in a T20I against Sri Lanka in September after being left out of the Australia squad for the preceding ODI series. The innings saw him join Watson and close friend Aaron Finch among Australians to have notched triple-figures in a T20I.

And during the 2015 World Cup, Maxwell set a new record for the fastest 50-over ton by an Australian male, bringing up the milestone from just 51 balls against Sri Lanka at the SCG.

His oft-repeated assertion that his game is most suited to longest format may be justified by the relatively short time it took for him to reach triple figures in Test cricket.

Maxwell brought up his first Test ton in just his fourth game in the Baggy Green, compared to the 45 ODI matches and the 35 T20I games he played before his maiden tons in those formats.

Players to score centuries in Tests, ODIs and T20Is

Tillakatne Dilshan (Sri Lanka)

Faf Du Plessis (South Africa)

Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka)

Chris Gayle (West Indies)

Martin Guptill (New Zealand)

Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka)

Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh)

Glenn Maxwell* (Australia)

Brendon McCullum (New Zealand)

KL Rahul (India)

Suresh Raina (India)

Rohit Sharma (India)

Ahmed Shehzad (Pakistan)

Shane Watson (Australia)

Test Squads

India (for third and fourth Tests): Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandaran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund.

Australia: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Stephen O'Keefe, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade

Australia's schedule in India

Feb 23-27, First Test, Pune - Australia won by 333 runs.

Mar 4-8, Second Test, Bengaluru - India won by 75 runs.

Mar 16-20, Third Test, Ranchi

Mar 25-29, Fourth Test, Dharamsala