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How to bowl to magic Glenn Maxwell

India fast bowler Umesh Yadav explains the tactic he uses against the reigning IPL MVP

Kolkata Knight Riders fast bowler Umesh Yadav has revealed the tactic used to thwart one of the most dangerous and unpredictable batsmen in the world, Glenn Maxwell.

Maxwell has struggled to reproduce his stunning World Cup form for Kings XI Punjab this season, but the right-hander looked somewhere near his best against KKR before Yadav intervened.

The Victorian clubbed his way to 33 from 25 until a flat swat over cover from the second ball he faced against the Indian speedster found a patrolling fielder in the deep to end his stay and hinder Punjab’s hopes of a mammoth score batting first. 

Bailey', Maxwell not enough for Kings XI

But despite his almost instant success against the dashing allrounder, Yadav says Maxwell’s ability to innovate makes him a challenging prospect for opposition bowlers.

“It is difficult to bowl to him because when he comes to bat he just moves too much from the wicket, sometimes to the off-side or sometimes to the leg-side. So it is difficult to bowl to him,” Yadav told iplt20.com.

“But I knew and I was confident that when he moves I will not follow him but I will just I keep at the wicket only.

“So my target was to bowl at the three stumps only so whenever he is going down the leg I am bowling at the wicket.

“And when he came towards the off-stump I was trying to vary the deliveries, bowl a slower one or yorker, whichever is required.

“So I bowled the slower ball and got him. That’s the variation, (and) because there wasn’t much in the wicket, if you didn’t get the yorker perfect you would get hit for a six.

“The wicket was flat and good for batting. The ball was coming on to the bat nicely; so whatever variations I had I backed myself to bowl one length and one area.” 

Maxwell's marvellous World Cup

Maxwell was crowned the IPL’s Most Valuable Player in 2014, scoring 552 runs at a rapid strike rate of 188 as he led Kings XI to the top of the ladder and the final.

The 26-year-old’s form dip has coincided with Punjab starting the eighth season of the lucrative T20 tournament with two wins from four matches to sit in sixth spot.

Scores of seven, six and 15 greeted Maxwell to begin the tournament, where 12 months ago the hirsute Melbournian posted 95, 89 and 95 to launch his MVP campaign and take ownership of the leading run-scorer’s orange cap.