Maxwell praises Zampa, confident of better performances in upcoming matches

Wrist spinners have been the go-to bowlers for captains in limited overs cricket for the last few years. However, they have had mixed fortunes in the first three weeks of this World Cup. While Imran Tahir, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have made their presence felt, Rashid Khan, the top ranked spinner in the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Rankings for Bowlers, went for 110 runs in nine overs against England on Tuesday.

Zampa, who finished with figures of 1/68 from nine overs against Bangladesh, seems to have impressed his fellow teammate Maxwell.

"I thought today was the best he's bowled in a while," Maxwell said of Zampa. "At other times he's bowled not as well but still taken wickets. That's always been his challenge. I'm pretty close to him in the field as well and talking to him and making sure he's still doing his thing. I thought today he did really well. Unfortunately, [there were a] couple of big hits off his good balls, which you expect as a spinner. It cost him towards the end of his spell."

Zampa, who went wicket-less against India at The Oval, was dropped for the next game against Pakistan, as Australia decided to go with four front-line pacers. Against Bangladesh, Zampa trapped Liton Das leg-before for 20, before going for 30 runs off his final 13 deliveries.

"It's just the nature of leg-spin bowling in one-day cricket that some days your best ball goes for six," Maxwell said. "I thought he bowled beautifully today and if keeps putting the ball in the right areas he's going to keep getting wickets for us."

The leg-spinner credited Maxwell, his Melbourne Stars skipper at the Big Bash League, for boosting his confidence, and talked about the challenges leg-spinners face in limited overs cricket.

"Bowling to someone like Virat [Kohli] and he's hitting the ball in all areas – you definitely feel like you're under pressure," Zampa said. "I actually didn't feel like I was at my best for the first three games. It was Maxi who had a word to me and said, 'good on you for getting wickets, but you're probably not at your best. What have you changed from the Big Bash?'

"It was just preparation and a few things where I was just over-complicating it. I simplified it," he concluded.