Glenn

Maxwell

Glenn Maxwell Biography and Career

Glenn Maxwell is an Australian middle order batsman, a more than decent off-spinner, and an outstanding fielder, who was part of Australia’s ODI-winning side in 2015 and 2023 and their T20 World Cup-winning side in 2021. One of the most hard-hitting batsmen of the modern era, Maxwell is also known as ‘Big Show’ and has lit up the ODI and T20I circuit with his audacious stroke play.
Maxwell is unorthodox personified. He plays the reverse sweep and switch hit with more authority than the conventional cover drive and has the ability to whack a six almost at will and clear the ropes in almost every ground in the world.
Maxwell plays for Victoria in first-class cricket and made his professional debut in 2010 as a 22-year-old. He initially wanted to be a fast bowler but later turned to off-spin. In 2011, he set the record for the fastest half-century in Australian domestic one-day cricket off just 19 balls.
Maxwell first grabbed everyone’s attention when he was picked for a whopping Rs 5.32 crore by Mumbai Indians at the IPL 2013 auction. A relatively unknown commodity at the time, his record bid threw everyone off.
Maxwell made his international debut against Pakistan in the UAE in 2012 and soon made his T20I debut as well. He was part of the Australia squad for the 2012 T20 World Cup.
While Maxwell has excelled as a white-ball player, he has played a handful of Tests, too. He made his Test debut against India in 2013 and had decent returns with both bat and ball. Despite that, he couldn’t get an extended run but was brought back for the India tour of 2017 where he cracked his maiden Test century on a tough surface in Ranchi.
While he couldn’t get a consistent run in the Test setup, Maxwell became a permanent fixture in Australia’s white-ball sides. In the 2015 ODI World Cup, Maxwell brought up a century off just 51 balls against Sri Lanka, his first in international cricket. He finished the tournament as Australia’s third-highest run-getter playing a key hand in their third World Cup title.  
In 2016, Maxwell smashed 145 off 65 balls against Sri Lanka in Kandy, which was at the time the second-highest score in T20I history. His second century in the format came against England in 2018, while he scored a third hundred against India in 2019.
Maxwell played in the 2019 ODI World Cup but soon after took a break to take care of his mental well-being.  "I was pretty cooked when I decided to take the time off," Maxwell said. "Big reason why I did take that time away is I was pretty mentally and physically ruined. I think it was eight months on the road, living out of a suitcase and that probably had been going on for four or five years, just constantly on the road and it all just caught up with me at that time. I really want to thank Cricket Australia, Cricket Victoria and the Stars for giving me that space and allowing me to have that time away from the game and get myself right.”
Maxwell soon made a return and was part of the Australia side that won the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE.
In 2023, Maxwell played a huge role in helping Australia win the ODI World Cup. In a group game against Afghanistan, Australia were languishing at 91 for 7 in a game in Mumbai. Had they lost the match, it would have been extremely tough for Australia to make it to the next round. That’s when Maxwell stepped up. Almost single-handedly, fighting cramps and injury, he smashed an unbelievable 201 not out off 128 balls to take Australia to a memorable win. It was hailed as one of the best innings ever in ODI cricket history by many experts.

Maxwell in BBL and IPL

He has been a hot property in both the BBL and the IPL. He started his career with Melbourne Renegades in 2011 but has since been with Melbourne Stars and also led them for a number of seasons. Maxwell holds the record for the highest score in BBL history – 154 not out against Hobart Hurricanes in 2022. As things stand, Maxwell is the third highest scorer in BBL history and the highest for Stars.
In the IPL, Maxwell was first picked by Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals) in 2012 before being snapped up by Mumbai for a record deal in 2013. He then spent four seasons with Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) and then moved to Delhi and Punjab for a season each in 2018 and 2020. Maxwell became a crowd favourite when he was picked by Royal Challengers Bangalore for a mammoth Rs 14.25 crore, more than seven times his base price of Rs 2 crore. He spent four seasons with RCB and was picked by Punjab in the IPL 2025 auction.

Beyond cricket

Maxwell married his longtime girlfriend Vini Raman in March 2022. The couple have a son named Logan.
Maxwell has a huge fan following all over the world and has attracted plenty of following on social media as well. On Instagram, he has 3.8 million followers while on Twitter, he has close to 2 million followers. He also endorses a number of brands such as Kookaburra, TikTok Australia, and Energize. He also released an autobiography named the Showman in November 2024.
Maxwell has a fiery nature in general and doesn’t shy from a few verbal volleys. Out of the many incidents, one that stands out was in January 2013 when chasing four off the final ball, Maxwell got into a heated battle with the Sri Lankans. The verbal volleys carried on while the player shook hands, and the rest of the Australian players also had a heated discussion with the Sri Lankan fielders.

Glenn Maxwell Records
Glenn Maxwell Domestic records

• In 2011, Maxwell hit the fastest half-century in the history of Australian domestic cricket: off just 19 balls

Glenn Maxwell ODI records

• Maxwell holds the record for the fastest ODI century: off just 40 balls against the Netherlands in Delhi in 2023
• He also holds the record for the second-fastest double century in ODI cricket history. He smashed 201 off just 128 balls against Afghanistan in 2023
• Was named Australia's men’s ODI player of the year in 2016
• Maxwell is the only Australian batsman to have scored a double century in ODI cricket
• Maxwell is one of three cricketers to have recorded a double century in an ODI World Cup match
• He holds the record for the joint-fastest fifty for an Australian batsman. In 2013, he smashed a fifty off 18 balls against India in Bangalore
• He is the first batsman to score a double century while chasing in an ODI match
• He has the highest score by a non-opener in the history of ODI cricket: 201 not out against Afghanistan
• Maxwell also has the first ODI double century for a batsman batting at No. 6 or lower in the format

Glenn Maxwell T20I records

• Maxwell has the joint-most centuries in T20I cricket -  5. Rohit  Sharma also has five tons in T20Is
• Maxwell is the only player in the world to have three T20I centuries while chasing
• He is the first and the only batsman in the world to have scored a century in his 100^th T20I
• Maxwell was named the men's T20I player of the year in 2015 and 2019 at the Allan Border Medal ceremony

Glenn Maxwell International records

• Maxwell is one of 25 batsmen to have recorded a century in all three formats of the game