South African fast bowler Dale Steyn heaped praises on Australian batsman Glenn Maxwell, comparing him to two of the best stroke-makers in world cricket.

After a while away from cricket due to injury, Steyn is currently playing for Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League (BBL) 2019/20 season. It was only on Friday that Steyn played his first match under the Glenn Maxwell’s captaincy. Steyn was quick to praise his new captain’s batting skills that place him among the best batsmen in T20 cricket.

Steyn pointed out his batting similarities to AB de Villiers. de Villiers is nicknamed as 360-degree player for his ability to cover the entire circumference of the boundary. The fast bowler felt that Maxwell also possessed such abilities.

“When it comes to T20, you very rarely get guys that strike it as cleanly as he does.” Steyn was quoted as saying by cricket.co.au. “He’s very smart, too, the way he goes about it. You talk about guys like AB de Villiers being a 360 (degree) player but ‘Maxi’ is up there, too. It’s just a nickname that AB’s earned because he plays like that, but had AB not been around you could’ve easily nicknamed someone like Maxi ‘Mr 360’ because he’s got that capability of taking you down in areas you don’t want the ball to go.”

Steyn believed that Maxwell’s strong wrists give him the ability to hit Virender Sehwag-like sixes over point. Steyn also said that Maxwell isn’t all about power and stroke-making, but he is also a great thinker which makes him more dangerous as a batsman and the bowler is always “guessing.”

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“You bring third-man up, you bring point up, he hits you for six there. You change it up and he hits you for six somewhere else. He’s a phenomenal thinker of the game and then ultimately he can execute, too,“ Steyn added.