Explosive Australian opener Glenn Maxwell has come out in the support of former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni amid criticism of his slow strike rate in the first T20I against Australia that the visitors won by three wickets. The T20I series opener between India and Australia was played at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam.

Dhoni, who is known for his power hitting, could score only 29 runs off 37 balls as the host team posted a below-par 126 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Speaking about Dhoni’s innings, Maxwell said that on a low and slow track, that was all the Ranchi wicket-keeper batsman could have done.

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“It (the slow strike rate) was probably fair enough. With the way the wicket was behaving, it was difficult to score for any batter, let alone a guy who is not known for his power-hitting in Chahal,” Maxwell said.

Maxwell added, “MS is obviously a world-class finisher and even he was finding it hard to hit the middle of the bat. So, I think it was right of him to try and farm the strike. He hit a six in the last over and I think that showed how difficult it was.”

Maxwell also heaped praises on Australian bowlers for keeping Dhoni under a tight leash. “If you are holding MS to one boundary in the last few overs, it’s a pretty good effort and also a sign of the conditions as well.”

Maxwell also lauded Man of the Match Nathan Coulter-Nile who picked 3 wickets and conceded just 26 runs. “He (Coulter-Nile) was brilliant. It was probably a wicket that suited him, it was keeping low and he was bowling straight making it really hard to create angles,” he said.