Is Glenn Maxwell better than Chris Gayle?

Glenn Maxwell and Chris Gayle have a lot in common. Both are destructive batters. Both can bowl off-spin, both have played for Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore, and both can hit sixes for fun.

Many fans would acknowledge the fact that on their day, Glenn Maxwell and Chris Gayle can single-handedly dismantle any team in the world. However, the question - who is the better player between the two of them.

At one point of time, Gayle was considered the 'Universe Boss' of big-hitting, but he has got quite a few competitors in the new era of cricket. In this article now, we will compare a few records of Gayle and Maxwell to decide who has been the better player.

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#1 Glenn Maxwell vs Chris Gayle - Who has the better strike rate?

Maxwell and Gayle played in different positions in international cricket. While Maxwell bats in the middle-order for Australia, Gayle majorly opened the batting for the West Indies.

Gayle's strike rate in ODIs was 87.19, while the same for T20Is was 137.50. Maxwell has scored runs at a strike rate of 125.38 in ODIs and 150.97 in T20Is so far in his career. One may argue that Maxwell's numbers are better because he is allowed to take more risks, but Gayle would get chances to bat with field restrictions in the powerplay.

Score: Glenn Maxwell 1 - 0 Chris Gayle

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#2 Glenn Maxwell vs Chris Gayle - Who has the fastest 50?

Chris Gayle's fastest half-century came off 12 balls in a BBL match between the Melbourne Renegades and Adelaide Strikers back in 2016. His fastest 50 in the ODI format came off 19 balls against England in 2019.

Glenn Maxwell's fastest half-century in T20s and ODIs came off 18 balls each. He smacked a 18-ball half-ton against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2014, having achieved the feat before in an ODI against India in 2013. Overall, Gayle's 50 is the fastest, which is why he gets the point here.

Score: Glenn Maxwell 1 - 1 Chris Gayle.

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#3 Maxwell vs Gayle - Who hits 4s and 6s more frequently?

This statistic will decide the winner of the comparison. Maxwell has smashed 556 fours and 249 sixes across all formats of international cricket. He has faced 4,911 balls so far, which means he hits a six or a four every 6.1 balls.

On the other hand, Chris Gayle played 25,370 balls across all three formats of international cricket, smacking 2332 fours and 553 sixes. It means that a boundary came off Gayle's bat every 8.79 balls that he faced.

Maxwell is ahead of Gayle in the overall comparison, but the former has played only seven Tests, as compared to 103 Test matches of Gayle. In ODIs and T20Is, Gayle's average balls for a boundary is 7.69, while that of Maxwell is just 5.67. Hence, one can say that Maxwell hits boundaries more frequently as compared to Gayle.

Score: Glenn Maxwell 2 - 1 Chris Gayle.

At the moment, it looks like Maxwell is better than Gayle, but a better comparison can be made once Maxwell's international career comes to an end.