CSK vs KXIP qualifier: Will Ashwin be able to conquer Maxwell?

Cricket has increasingly become more of a mental game than a physical one. The war of words begins much before the game… sometimes even before the tour as the players look to get into the minds of the opposition.

We’ve seen numerous rivalries on the cricket field in the past and in the IPL years as well. The Steyn-de Villiers rivalry is one that we would have never seen in international cricket but we have in the IPL and the latest developing one is between Ravichandran Ashwin and Glenn Maxwell.

It’s just in the developing phase but it seems like Maxwell has already got under the skin of the Indian off-spinner. The Australian has had the better of the CSK bowler in recent times and that seems to have rattled the latter a bit.

Overall in the IPL 7 so far, Maxwell has scored 64 runs from 24 balls with 7 fours and four sixes off Ashwin at 16 runs per over while the CSK spinner hasn’t dismissed him even once. Ashwin’s figures against other batsmen read 51.5 overs, one maiden, 329 runs conceded at 6.38 and 15 wickets scalped.

Maxwell’s domination clearly seems to be bothering Ashwin and it was clearly evident last night. In the post-match conference, the presenter was asking him about their performance and win against Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator and just as the interview finished and the interviewer was wrapping it up, Ashwin interjected and with absolutely no warning said, “Hold on, Maxwell can expect me to bowl more over the wicket in the next game.”

It seems as if Ashwin is trying to play mind games but it is clearly evident that he’s been thinking about Maxwell all the time. The interviewer didn’t ask him anything about Maxwell but still, he came up with the topic.

The battle of egos has been joined. Ashwin has thrown down the gauntlet, Maxwell has had the upper hand so far and it will be a big challenge for the off-spinner to come out on top against the Australian.

But it must be noted that Maxwell has suffered a tremendous dip in form, he has scored just 104 runs in his last seven innings at 14.85. And perhaps that is reason enough for Ashwin to fancy his chances once again.

Click here to read the full article on how Maxwell has dominated Ashwin so far.