Australia's Maxwell defends 'switch-hit', asks bowlers to evolve

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Glenn Maxwell defended the switch-hit after the audacious stroke once again drew criticism from pundits, the Australian all-rounder saying the onus was on bowlers to evolve and counter batsmen in the shorter formats of the game.

Right-handed Maxwell switches stance in a flash to transform into a left-hander with the bowler well into the delivery stride, making field setting impossible against the shot.

Maverick England batsman Kevin Pietersen was a regular proponent of the shot, which involves a combination of skill and risk and was deemed legal in 2008 by the MCC, which acts as the custodian of cricket's laws.

Maxwell smashed 59 from 38 balls at the Manuka Oval in Canberra during Australia's 13-run loss in the third and final ODI against India on Wednesday and his innings included a massive switch-hit against spinner Kuldeep Yadav.

"It's within the laws of the game," Maxwell told reporters. "I suppose it's up to the bowlers to try and combat that, and the skills of bowlers are being tested every day.

"They're having to come up with different change-ups and different ways to stop batters, and with the way they shut down one side of the ground and what-not.

"I suppose the way that batting is evolving, I think bowling has got to evolve to the same stage."

Former Australian captain and commentator Ian Chappell feels batsmen take unfair advantage of field placements by switching stance at the last moment.

"It is very skilful, some of it's amazingly skilful - but it's not fair," Chappell told Wide World of Sports. "I'd love the administrators who made those laws to explain to me how that's fair."

(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; Editing by Stephen Coates)