Before the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)’s new recruit Glenn Maxwell revealed how his best IPL season yet built certain perceptions about him back home in Australia.
Maxwell was the erstwhile Kings XI Punjab’s (now Punjab Kings) star performer in the 2014 edition. He amassed 552 runs in 14 matches and played an instrumental role in taking his team to the final. The Punjab outfit lost to Kolkata Knight Riders in the final of the league whose first half was played in the UAE due the 2014 General Elections of India.
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That edition saw the best of Maxwell.
“I have been a massive beneficiary of the IPL. It is certainly fast-tracked my international T20 career, I have been able to experience the Indian conditions, we had an IPL in Dubai in 2014 and I was able to perform really well over there. After that, I got a bit pigeon-holed in Australia over being a sub-continent specialist. It got me a few ODIs and Test tours which I probably would not have been able to do so if not for the IPL,” Maxwell said in a video posted on the official Twitter handle of RCB.
“I still remember chatting with Sachin Tendulkar in my first year at the IPL, the fact the I was an Aussie, I joked with him, I think he liked that. He was brilliant with the sort of way he opened up his world to him. Every year you come to the IPL, it is a massive learning experience,” he added.
Maxwell, who was purchased by RCB for a sum of ₹14.25 crore at the IPL 2021 auction despite having a poor last season (when he scored 108 runs in 13 matches), revealed how the build-up for the IPL auction was for him and how teammate Adam Zampa had a funny role in RCB picking him.
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“There is actually a funny story, the day of the auction, we were training on the day of the auction in New Zealand while we were in quarantine. Adam Zampa had his RCB hat in his bag and he took out it, and he made sure to send a photo to Virat saying let’s have Maxwell in our team. It was like Zampa saying Virat congratulations, I have already given Maxwell his RCB cap. It all happened really well, it would have looked silly if it did not work out this way. Virat said you guys are idiots after Zampa sent him the picture,” said Maxwell.
In RCB’s first IPL 2021 match–against defending champions Mumbai Indians at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai–Maxwell showed glimpses of his former self. In a fluent stroke-making innings, the Aussie all-rounder registered 39 runs off 28 balls to help RCB in the middle overs of their chase and eventually see his team get home with a two-wicket win.
The 2016 finalists next play 2016 winners Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday.
