Glenn Maxwell has preached the value of patience as Australia try to master cricket's helter-skelter format and secure an elusive Twenty20 title in stifling conditions.
Maxwell dominated the second phase of the Indian Premier League, peeling off scores of 56, 50no, 57, 40 and 51no for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Those performances came at the same UAE venues hosting the T20 World Cup, which for Australia starts on Saturday night (AEDT) against South Africa.
Maxwell, who thanked superstar teammates Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers for helping him reach a remarkably consistent level in recent weeks, flagged a low-scoring T20 World Cup might be on the cards.
And the offspinning allrounder, having been part of three campaigns to lift the one major piece of men's silverware to have eluded Australia, believes it will be vital for his side's aggression with the bat to be astute.
"It just takes a little bit more time to soak in a bit of information," Maxwell said, noting IPL sides routinely struggled to score 50-plus runs in the final five overs of an innings.
"About the conditions, the bowlers. It just takes a few extra balls to get used to what's out there ... (whereas) you can try to hit boundaries a lot earlier (in Australia).
"I don't think it's going to be the 220s and 230s (totals) that people have come to expect from small grounds like Sharjah.
"But in saying that, if someone gets in from the powerplay ... anything can happen because if you get used to the conditions then you can certainly make the most of them and dominate."
Heat and humidity that made it "really hard to breathe" during some games is another challenge that some members of Australia's 15-man World Cup squad are still adjusting to.
"As soon as there's no breeze ... it can sort of take your breath away a little bit," Maxwell said.
"Make it really difficult to execute your skills.
"We found that on a couple of grounds, especially Dubai ... even some of the better athletes were struggling to get through 20 overs."
Maxwell, boasting an astonishing ability to mix power and innovation at the crease, has long been regarded as one of the world's best T20 players.
But the 33-year-old said every day in the recently-completed IPL provided some key lessons from Kohli and de Villiers.
"I was extremely fortunate to have two of the greats in the same team who were open to share their experiences and talk to me about their game. It makes you feel 10 feet tall when you have their backing.
"Makes you feel confident ... happy.
"I had friends I could rely on if I had a bad day. It was just nice to have a nice comfortable environment."
Australian Associated Press
