"I have never seen anything like that" - Ricky Ponting on Glenn Maxwell's rescue act in AUS vs AFG 2023 World Cup clash

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting admitted that Glenn Maxwell's innings against Afghanistan in the 2023 World Cup on Tuesday (November 7) left him stunned. Ponting also reckons that the cricketing fraternity is unlikely to witness something similar in the near future.

Maxwell played one of the best innings in ODI history as he single-handedly led Australia to a stunning victory over Afghanistan, propelling them to the semi-finals. The 35-year-old walked in the middle in the ninth over of the innings and struck an unbeaten 201 off 128 deliveries as Australia chased down 292 despite being 91-7 at one stage.

Speaking to the ICC media, Ponting suggested being taken aback by how Afghanistan lost the game, given the position they were in.

"I have been around a lot of games, playing and calling, and I have never seen anything like that, and I will be very surprised if I see anything like that ever again. At that stage, Afghanistan were up and about, they were really trying to take it to the Australians.

"They were verbal, there were things being said. There was great body language from the fielding group. They were really trying to put as much pressure on Australia as they could.

The Victorian capitalized on Afghanistan's fielding lapses, most notably the simplest of catches being dropped by Mujeeb-ur-Rahman when he was on 33. He also survived an lbw shout off Noor Ahmad's bowling, thanks to the DRS.

"After 49/4, he knew that he had to be the man to take Australia to a win" - Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting. (Image Credits: Twitter)

Ponting dissected Maxwell's innings, suggesting he had his fair share of luck, but counter-attacked in a calculative way. The Tasmanian added:

"Maxwell got through that first ball, got lucky a couple of times and the rest is history. It is an innings that we will be talking about for a long long time. I think at that stage he would have been thinking that he needs to be there till the end of the game for Australia to win.

"After 49/4, he knew that he had to be the man to take Australia to a win. Australia at one point of time had a 0.3 percent chance of winning the game, that's how much a miracle of an innings it is."

Australia have progressed to the semi-finals with the three-wicket victory and are likely to face South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.