Kapil Dev 175* vs Glenn Maxwell 201* , which was greatest ODI knock ?

 

Glenn Maxwell's breathtaking &  incredible  201 not out off 128 balls which snatched a win for Australia from the jaws of defeat has already  been elevated to iconic status.  Maxwell batting on one leg for 40% of his knock  rescued Australia from the dumps at 91/7 chasing a huge target of 292 .

For obvious reasons now Maxwell's unbelievable knock is being compared   to the iconic innings of Kapil Dev 40 years ago in the 1983 World cup  vs Zimbabwe in extremely difficult circumstances .

In order to compare both knocks we need to go through various parameters to arrive at a conclusion but it must be said that both the knocks  had several strong points and it will be tough to rate one above the other .

Kapil Dev's 175 came on a cold day at Tunbridge Wells vs Zimbabwe.  The African nation was playing their first world cup and had already upset Australia in their opening game . India on the other hand, after a great start with wins over West Indies and Zimbabwe in their first leg games , stumbled against Australia and then against West Indies in their second leg game and now needed a must win vs Zimbabwe to keep their semis hopes alive .

India batted first vs Zimbabwe and on a seaming pitch the Zimbabwe fast bowlers reduced India to a pathetic 17/5 with the top order knocked over . Kapil walked out at 9/4 and soon it became 17/5 . The red ball, with which the world cup was played those days ,  was swinging big and Kapil had to apply himself with his best possible technique to survive and take the innings forward on a cold morning .

Kapil did a wonderful job  and with Binny and Madan Lal took the score to 140/7 when Kirmani joined him . All this while Kapil was taking singles & accumulating runs trying to bat the full 60 overs .

Kapil had a 126 run stand with Kirmani and as the innings moved to the final stages , he unleashed himself and played breathtaking shots . He finished 175 notout off 138 balls with 16 fours and 6 sixes at a strike rate of 127 which was exceptional in those times .

It was an exceptional knock , totally chanceless and Kapil had to apply his technique to survive specially the early part of his innings . He was setting a target and the circumstances were such that India would have been virtually out of the world cup had they lost to Zimbabwe.  Kapil also bowled 12 overs economically  when Zimbabwe chased taking 1 wicket . 

Now getting to the Glenn Maxwell knock . Australia  ideally needed a win vs Afghanistan to qualify for the semis but even a loss would not have been critical as Australia were to face one of the less impressive teams languishing close to the bottom of league table  ,  Bangladesh in their last league game 

Maxwell had bowled his full quota of 10 overs for 55 runs and getting 1 wicket.  Australia bowled poorly and Afghanistan set a daunting target of 292 with all their array of spinners . 

The ball moved prodigiously under lights at the Wankede as Australia lost top order wickets rapidly . They were 4 /52 when Maxwell stepped in and saved a hattrick . He and Labuschagne played carefully for a while but Labuschagne was runout  followed by Stoinis and Starc . It was now 91/7 when Cummins joined Maxwell which started the famous 200 run stand . Maxwell slowly opened up and hit breathtaking shots as Australia was slowly appearing to reduce the margin of defeat so that the NRR doesnt  get a battering . 

Maxwell finally arrived at his 100 and was playing in glorious fashion with Cummins giving staunch support but after Maxwell reached 120 he gradually stared cramping and the whole situation progressively got worse with the Physio dashing to the ground many times to get him going. It reached such a state that Maxwell was not able to take singles.  The physio later revealed that Maxwell was advised by him not to run and look only for boundaries and the instructions was passed to Cummins. It was a crazy moment in the game as singles were taken only to get Maxwell on strike for next over while Maxwell now went for the shots using his bottomhand to great effect . He started hitting outrageous shots putting the ball in the stands or hitting 4s and reverse lapping as he unleashed an array of astounding shots . It was incredible and unbelievable hitting as he finally took Australia to a sensational win from the jaws of defeat and himself sealing his 200 and Australia victory with a six.  

The comparisons of Kapil vs Maxwell knocks are on . While doing a threadbare analysis we come to below points .

Kapil  was setting a total from the debris of 17/5 while ball swinging and India's world cup hopes on the line . The weather was cold and he had no physical challenges in terms of cramps etc .

After bowling 10 overs in the heat Maxwell was chasing a big target of 292 against a quality Afghanistan bowling attack in humid conditions , which reduced Australia to 91/7  . He suffered a severe bout of cramps for 40% of his knock and was playing on one leg bit still managed to hit outrageous shots and took the team to a win in dramatic circumstances . Also he had Cummins as his partner compared to  the partners of Kapil during the rescue act namely Binny , Madan Lal and Kirmani all of whom had better batting credentials than Cummins . 

Maxwell had two very strong arguments in support of his knock . Firstly Australia was chasing a big target and had already collapsed and secondly Maxwell suffered acute bout of cramps and was batting on one leg for 40% of his knock while Kapil had no physical challenges.

On the other hand Kapil Dev's knock had two strong points too . Firstly it was a virtual must win game for India unlike Australia and  secondly  Kapil played an absolutely chanceless knock unlike Maxwell who gave two chances before reaching 35 and the second one was an absolute sitter that could have ended the match as a contest . 

Therefore instead of rating one knock over the other we should sit back and celebrate both the knocks 

Kapil Dev's 175 and Glenn Maxwell 's 201 will both go down as two of the greatest iconic knocks in all cricket history