(Reuters) – Australia’s players will benefit from taking part in the Indian Premier League (IPL) when it resumes in Dubai on Sunday and the experience will stand them in good stead for the Twenty20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, all-rounder Glenn Maxwell said.
The 32-year-old, along with the likes of top order batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner, will return to action after they skipped Australia’s recent tours of West Indies and Bangladesh.
The second half of the IPL season was shifted to the UAE due to a COVID-19 surge in India, and Maxwell said it was an excellent opportunity for the players to acclimatise to conditions before the World Cup begins on Oct. 17.
“Even if they’re not playing, they’re training with some of the best players in the world and getting used to it, and hopefully we’re able to hit the ground running in the World Cup,” Maxwell told www.cricket.com.au.
“I think it’s a really good lead-in for the guys who are going to be over there.
“To be able to train in those facilities and acclimatise, it’s going to be hot and to have that extra month there I think it will be valuable for those guys.”
The Royal Challengers Bangalore player said he skipped Australia’s recent tours to avoid two more months of living in a biosecure bubble.
“That really takes its toll on some of the players,” he added. A depleted Australia lost 4-1 in both West Indies and Bangladesh and are currently the seventh ranked Twenty20 team.
Maxwell, however, was optimistic that Australia could win the World Cup, the only major global trophy to have eluded them. “100% we can win it,” he said. “I think we’ve got a great squad, and we’ve got a lot of experience in there.
“If you can get one or two players that are running hot at the start of the tournament, it can be hard to stop.”
