Former India cricketer and 2-time IPL champion Gautam Gambhir has said that Glenn Maxwell has been disappointing throughout the IPL and that is the reason behind him playing for several teams.
The 2011 World Cup-winning batsman, who captained Maxwell in 2018 while playing for Delhi, said the real reason why the Australian all-rounder has not been able to continue in one franchise is his inconsistent performances.
Glenn Maxwell has represented Delhi Daredevils (2012, 2018), Mumbai Indians (2013) and Kings XI Punjab (2014-2017, 2020) in the IPL. He will now ply his trade for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the upcoming edition of the IPL.
Gautam Gambhir, who briefly captained Glenn Maxwell at Delhi Daredevils in 2018, told ESPNcricinfo:
“Had Maxwell done really well in the IPL, he wouldn’t have played for so many franchises, to be honest. He’s played for so many franchises because he’s not been consistent at all. We can’t keep talking about ‘he hasn’t had the freedom’ for the previous franchises he’s played for… when he played for Delhi, he had a lot of freedom.”
Gambhir made his point clear by giving example of Andre Russell, an equally destructive big-hitter who has been with the Kolkata Knight Riders since 2014.
“Most of these franchises and coaches – because they think he’s an X-factor – they want to try and provide him with the best platform where he can succeed. The most unfortunate thing is that despite getting that platform, he has not succeeded, apart from that one season in 2014 where he set the IPL on fire. Had he done that, I think none of the franchises would have released him. Look at what Andre Russell has done for KKR and the amount of time he’s spent at one franchise,” Gambhir added.
Notably, the hard-hitting all-rounder managed only 108 runs in 13 matches for Kings XI Punjab (Punjab Kings) last season. The 32-year-old did not hit a single six in the 13th edition which was played in UAE amid Covid-19.
However, Maxwell shrugged off his bad form soon after the completion of IPL 2020 and put up a stellar show against India in white-ball matches. In the 3-match ODI series he smashed167 runs at an average of 83.50 and strike rate of 194.18.
After being released by KL Rahlul’s Punjab Kings ahead of the IPL 2022 mini-auction, ‘The Big show’ was roped in by Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for Rs 14.25 crore. Punjab Kings had acquired him for Rs 10.74 crore.
