Legendary Caribbean cricketer, Brian Lara stated that Glenn Maxwell’s IPL career has got a new kick-start after the latter joined the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) ahead of the 2021 edition of the league. Maxwell witnessed a forgettable outing in 2020 after he scored only 108 runs at an average of 15.42 and a strike rate of 101.88, even he failed to smash a single six in the previous season.
Despite his poor form, RCB decided to spend as many as INR 14.25 crores on him in the auction back in February. Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Rajasthan Royals (RR), and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were also involved in a bidding war, but the Challengers ended up bagging him. Brian Lara said that going by the way Maxwell played in 2020, it seemed like the end of the Victorian’s career in the cash-rich T20 league. He mentioned that Maxwell’s confidence has leapfrogged after joining Kohli’s men.
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During a recent chat on Star Sports, Brian Lara said, “In the 2019 and 2020 IPL, he was in very poor form and he was like that the entire IPL, not only for Punjab Kings. It looked like his IPL career was over. I’m going to use one person’s name here and that is Virat Kohli. Can you imagine getting a call from Virat Kohli to come to join RCB.”
He further added, “And I believe just by that, his confidence would have grown and that’s all you need sometimes. When you play football, you play for other clubs trying to one day get into Manchester United. He moved from Punjab Kings to RCB, and of course, it has done wonders for him,” he added.
In IPL 2021, the 32-year-old Maxwell has been the highest run-getter for RCB, having scored 350 runs at an average of 38.88 and a strike rate of 141.70. He has amassed four half-centuries with a top score of 78.
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In fact, Glenn Maxwell is the leading run-scorer for RCB ahead of the likes of Kohli and AB de Villiers. In RCB’s previous game against Rajasthan Royals, Maxwell played a fiery knock of 30-ball 50 and took his team to a seven-wicket win.
