Royal Challengers Bengaluru all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has revealed he asked to be left out of the team’s playing XI against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Monday. Maxwell has got off to a horrid start in IPL 2024, managing only 32 runs at an average of 5.33.
Maxwell said he wanted to give himself a mental and physical break as playing continuously could further put him into a hole. The Australian all-rounder was in prime form before the start of the IPL but could convert the same form in the first half of the tournament.
The right-hander scored 244 runs in nine innings at a strike-rate of 173.57 while playing for Melbourne Stars in the BBL.
“For me, personally, it was a pretty easy decision,” Maxwell said on Monday (April 15) addressing the press conference after RCB’s sixth defeat in seven games. “I went to Faf [du Plessis] and the coaches after the last game and said I felt it was probably time we tried someone else. I have been in this situation in the past where you can keep playing and get yourself deeper into a hole. I think now is actually a good time for me to give myself a bit of a mental and physical break, get my body right. If I’m required to get in during the tournament, I can hopefully get back into a really solid mental and physical space where I can still have an impact.
“We have had a pretty big deficiency straight after the powerplay, which has been my area of strength over the last couple of seasons. I felt like I wasn’t contributing in a positive way with the bat, and with the results and the position we find ourselves on the table, I think it’s a good time to give someone else an opportunity to show their wares, and hopefully, someone can make that spot their own.”
Maxwell added that the T20 format can be pretty fickle as it is not easy for the batters to continue the good show.
“T20 cricket can be like that sometimes – it’s a pretty fickle game,” he reflected. “Even if you look at the first game, I ran one off the middle of the bat to the keeper. I picked up the length really well, saw a scoring opportunity, but opened the face a little bit too much. When you are going well, that goes wide of the gloves, you get a boundary, you are 4 off 1, and you are away for the tournament.
“I probably just haven’t got away – it’s as simple as that. In the first few games, I feel I made reasonably good decisions, but I was still finding ways to get out. It can happen in T20 cricket and when it snowballs like that, you can go searching and try too hard and forget the basics of the game.”
Royal Challengers Bengaluru will next take on Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday.
