[In Pictures] Virat Kohli hugs Glenn Maxwell on his return from injury in IND vs AUS 3rd ODI
Team India stalwart Virat Kohli extended a warm welcome to his Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) teammate Glenn Maxwell when he came out to bat during the third ODI on Wednesday (September 27).
Maxwell has missed both the ODIs so far on the tour after aggravating an ankle injury ahead of their South Africa tour in August. India already sealed the series by winning the first two games against Australia. The two teams squared off in the dead rubber today at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot.
Glenn Maxwell came into bat at the end of the 37th over after Australia lost their fourth wicket. Virat Kohli walked to the crease to greet Glenn Maxwell on his arrival and embraced him before having a brief chat.
You can get a glimpse of their interaction in the posts below:
Glenn Maxwell fails with the bat in his comeback match ahead of the World Cup
Australia captain Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bat first in the contest. The side's top-order made merry of the batting-friendly conditions on offer at Rajkot and laid down a solid platform for their side.
David Warner (56) and Mitchell Marsh (96), Steve Smith (74) and Marnus Labuschagne (72) hit fluent half-centuries.
Glenn Maxwell had a perfect platform to go big in the slog overs when he came into bat in the 37th over, with Australia on 267/4. Jasprit Bumrah did not allow him to make an impact with the bat as he cleaned him up with a wonderful yorker.
Australia eventually reached a mammoth total of 352/7 in 50 overs. Mitchell Marsh reflected on his knock during mid-innings break, saying:
"Threw another one away, didn't I, unfortunately? Probably the hardest conditions I've ever faced as a batter, the wicket was beautiful, as you could see, I was pretty cooked towards the end, but for us to get to 350, it was great and hopefully, we can defend it.
"The wicket was good when we know early and we asses the conditions really quickly, the way Davey played was fantastic. Would've been nice to get myself four more runs, but that's the way we want to play."
He added:
"Hopefully, we can use that at the back end of our innings, we got to change the pace and certainly worked for India, we're in for an exciting run chase and hopefully, we can kick start with a win here towards the World Cup.
"I think 350 is hopefully par, as we saw the wickets slowed up a bit when the ball got a bit older, hopefully, that's the case for us and 350 is too many!"