'Massive' Maxwell key to balancing Australia's XI

It took Glenn Maxwell just five balls to show how valuable he is to Australia's World Cup title hopes.

After a month on the sidelines following a flare up of the left ankle he fractured last year as well as the birth of his first child, Maxwell returned to Australia's side for their final official ODI before this year's 50-over World Cup.

He may have only managed five with the bat, but he was immediately in the action with the ball with the wicket of opener Washington Sundar in his first over.

And the 34-year-old was just getting started; in his second and fifth overs respectively, he captured the massive wickets of Rohit Sharma (81) and Virat Kohli (56).

He finished with a career best haul of 4-40 from 10 overs and with the wicket of KL Rahul in his seventh over he had claimed all of India's top four batters to spearhead Australia's 66-run win in Rajkot, which saw them snap a five-game losing streaking in the format.

While Maxwell is widely known for his ability to wow fans with his destructive and innovative batting, it's his bowling that might prove most crucial to Australia's quest for an unprecedented sixth one-day World Cup crown.

The Victorian's off-spin allows Australia to play their 'big three' quicks in captain Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood alongside Adam Zampa, with Maxwell, as he showed on Wednesday night, more than capable of getting through 10 overs as the second spinner.

Spin is tipped to play a major part in the 2023 men's World Cup and with question marks hanging over Ashton Agar's match fitness after he missed the second and third ODIs in South Africa before heading home for the birth of his first child, Maxwell's timely return to the side has likely given national selectors some peace of mind.

His ODI bowling record (60 wickets at 50.23 with a strike rate of 54.1) is similar to Agar's (21 at 45.61 striking at 52.2), with the West Australian left-armer having only played four matches since the Big Bash in January.

"For (Maxwell) to come back after not playing much cricket over the last month, it was great to see him back," opener Mitch Marsh said after hitting 96 to help Australia post the highest one-day international total at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

"It's massive what he brings to our team from a balance perspective.

"We obviously know that his batting is absolute class, but what he can do with the ball and the options that he'll give us with our allrounders is vital to us going deep into the World Cup, so it was outstanding having him back.

"There may be wickets where he is the third spinner for us throughout this World Cup but just the ability for us to play the three quicks and a spinner and have 'Maxi' who has the ability on the right day to bowl 10 overs (is important).

"It gives you a lot of flexibility with the teams that you can pick or the way you can structure up your batting line up."

Australia's team for Wednesday's third ODI closely resembled the structure they could take into their World Cup opener with four frontline bowlers and three allrounders in Maxwell, Cameron Green and Marsh, who didn't bowl or field in the second innings after suffering full body cramps in the innings break following his 84-ball knock.

"Probably the hottest conditions I have ever faced as a batter," Marsh told the host broadcaster during the innings break.

"The wicket was beautiful but as you could see I was pretty cooked towards the end there."

Australia need to finalise their 15-player squad by the end of today but have two more warm-up matches against the Netherlands on September 30 and Pakistan on October 3 to settle on their preferred XI for their World Cup opener against India on October 8.

2023 Qantas Tour of India

September 22: India win by five wickets

September 24: India won by 99 runs (DLS method)

September 27: Australia won by 66 runs

Australia ODI squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

India squad for first two ODIs: KL Rahul (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan , Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

India squad for the third ODI: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj