A Disastrous Campaign In 2020, Just 6 Fifties In 82 IPL Matches In His Career But Glenn Maxwell Could Still Earn The Big Bucks At The Upcoming Auction.
The Big Show, Glen Maxwell hasn’t lit the IPL on fire throughout his career and having been released by Kings XI Punjab, has listed his base price at INR 2 crore for the IPL 2021 auction.
Maxwell scored a total of just 108 runs at a strike-rate of 101.88 in the previous edition of the IPL in the UAE and did not clear the fence even once – absolutely NO big hits from the Big Show! Glenn Maxwell’s was being paid a princely sum of $2.2 million per season during his time with Kings XI Punjab and it was only a matter of time before the Australian star was released by the squad that have now got the biggest purse at the 2021 auction with Rs. 53.20cr. Maxwell was even dropped for KXIP’s final game, and then returned to incredible form in Australian colours through their summer, angering the likes of Indian legend Virender Sehwag, who claimed that he’d treated the IPL as a “highly-paid vacation”.
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Maxi perhaps still hasn’t realized his potential in the grandest T20 league in the world but brings the 3-Dimensional aspect of a player who can hit a long ball, bowl off spin and be a dynamite fielder for his side, and could still find a lot of interest in the upcoming auction on the 18th of February. Here are three teams that we think could want his services and perhaps could get the best out of Glenn Maxwell!
1. Royal Challengers Bangalore
Virat Kohli’s RCB are still in search of that elusive IPL trophy and having made the playoffs for the first time in four years in 2020, they’ll be hoping that they can go a step further in 2021. RCB have made wholesale changes to their squad, having released 10 players including the might Chris Morris, Moeen Ali and Shivam Dube and will be looking for a key signing to fit into the finisher’s role, particularly if the IPL returns to the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Glenn Maxwell ticks a number of boxes for the side as someone that could clear the short boundaries with ease, bowl a few overs of off-spin even in the powerplay if required, and be that larger than life character that fits the dressing room with the likes of Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers. Aussie, Simon Katich & Mike Hesson could be the perfect men to work with Maxi and with over Rs. 35cr in their purse and overseas slots to fill, Glenn Maxwell could very well be playing bold in 2021.
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2. Chennai Super Kings
MS Dhoni and the Chennai Super Kings are coming off their worst ever campaign in their history and will be hoping for a turnaround of fortunes as the IPL returns to Indian soil in 2021. The men in yellow were expected to make sweeping changes but chose to retain the core of their squad with Suresh Raina, DJ Bravo, Rayudu, MSD, Faf Du Plessis, Imran Tahir and others staying with the squad. The have however seen the retirement of Shane Watson and released Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla and also Kedar Jadhav, meaning Chennai could be in search of a hard hitting middle order batsmen who’s capable with the ball too, to support the line-up of Rayudu, Dhoni, Bravo and potentially Sam Curran towards the back end of the innings. Glenn Maxwell ticks all the boxes and could even give Dhoni the license he needs to bat higher and bat himself in, given that Maxwell prefers to go after the bowling from ball one. If the IPL returns the Chepauk, Maxwell with ball in hand could also be a very handy addition and give Chennai fans plenty to smile about after a bleak outing in 2020.
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3. Sunrisers Hyderabad
The Sunrisers Hyderabad squad coming into the 2021 auction saw no major surprises for the ever-consistent side who will just want David Warner’s form to return when the IPL comes back to India. It’s a team that has hinged around their top order and their bowling unit to to win them games and have struggled to kick their innings into overdrive come the back end of the innings. SRH have had a fairly inexperienced middle order with the likes of Abdul Samad, Priyam Garg and Vijay Shankar trying to up the ante but have failed to do so on a number of occasions.
They perhaps could have their eye on their former SRH star man, Shakib Al Hasan, who returns to the auction after serving out his ban but also could have their attention set on Glenn Maxwell who could be the missing piece of their almost complete puzzle as a team. With David Warner, Kane Williamson, Johnny Bairstow and Manish Pandey at the top and the bowlers sorted, another Aussie in Glenn Maxwell could be an interesting buy but could also give the management a problem of plenty in terms of picking their four overseas players, with Rashid Khan and Jason Holder also in the side.
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[Image Credit: Glenn Maxwell]
Suhail Chandhok
Vertical Head - Sports