“Have you ever met your namesake?”
Maxwell Swaminathan smiled, and shyly replied, “Yes, I did meet Glenn Maxwell once…”
A couple of years ago, in a Mumbai Indians’ nets session during the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Mumbai-based off-spin all-rounder bumped into the Australian superstar and ended up taking his autograph.
Though it was a short meeting, Maxwell was elated to meet the Maxwell.
“I just wanted to meet him once, and when it did happen, it was actually a happy feeling. He was surprised to know that we share the same name and that I’m also a spinner all-rounder,” Swaminathan told Sportstar.
While they chatted a bit about the game, Swaminathan benefitted immensely from his stint as a net bowler with Mumbai Indians. In the nets, he closely works with India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav, and makes it a point to pick his brains.
“He (Suryakumar) faces me a lot in the nets and I keep asking him which is the area that I should try bowling at? He suggests a few things – in terms of some specific lengths and how to adjust my lengths and I just try to put those suggestions into practice,” Swaminathan, who hails from Ghatkopar, a bustling neighbourhood in Mumbai, said.
Even though he has represented Mumbai in age-group cricket and is a regular at the club level, Swaminathan finally rose to prominence with his spells for Maratha Royals in the ongoing T20 Mumbai League.
With seven wickets in six games, Swaminathan has been one of the go-to men for Maratha Royals captain Siddhesh Lad throughout the tournament, and the 26-year-old played a key role in guiding the team to the final. And when the Royals take on the Shreyas Iyer-led SoBo Mumbai Falcons in the summit clash at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, Swaminathan’s spin bowling and a quickfire innings at the fag end could come in handy for his team.
Swaminathan is the only cricketer from his family, and it was one of his mother’s colleagues who spotted his talent early on and convinced his parents to enrol him in an academy.
“I would play gully cricket, and once during their visit to our home, my mom’s colleague and her husband saw me play, and her husband suggested that I be put in an academy. And, that’s how my mom enrolled me at the Matunga Gymkhana and it all started there,” he said.
He was a 10-year-old then, and slowly fell in love with the sport. “I have two elder sisters, and once I pursued the game seriously, my parents encouraged me. And, I’m still chasing my dreams of playing for Mumbai someday in the Ranji Trophy,” Swaminathan said with a smile.
Sharing his name with the Australian superstar, Swaminathan often receives a lot of selfie requests during local league games.
“People get curious every time they hear my name, and many, in fact, come to click pictures. While I enjoy those moments, it’s important to build my own identity,” he said, hoping the performances in the T20 Mumbai League will boost his career.
“This league has helped us financially and it has also been a great opportunity to expose our talents and I’m sure, a lot of franchises will look at us,” Swaminathan, who considers Ravindra Jadeja and Nathan Lyon his idols, said with a smile.
