‘If he is getting free drinks, he will take that to his room’: Virender Sehwag claims Glenn Maxwell plays IPL ‘only for enjoyment’
India vs Australia: Virender Sehwag claims Glenn Maxwell’s lean IPL stems from the fact that he isn’t serious about playing in the T20 league.
Former India batsman Virender Sehwag has taken a fresh jibe at Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell following his half-century against India after the third T20I on Wednesday. Sehwag said the reason Maxwell performs well for Australia and doesn’t in IPL with as much consistency because the batsman knows his place in the Australian limited-overs team is not for granted, while the same cannot be said about his IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab.
“His attitude changes when he plays for Australia. When he goes to Australia, he knows that if he has two or three bad innings, he will be left out of the Australian team and it will be difficult to make a comeback,” Sehwag said on the Sony Sports Network.
Maxwell had a lean IPL 2020, that saw him score 108 runs from 13 matches, statistically his worst IPL season of all time, but followed it with a glittering three-match ODI series against India where he scored 167 runs – 45, 63* and 59 and followed it with scores of 2, 22 and 54 in T20Is. Sehwag claims Maxwell’s lean IPL stems from the fact that he isn’t serious about playing in the T20 league.
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“He (Maxwell) doesn’t take pressure at all (In IPL). He is there only for enjoyment. He will do everything in the match – encourage players, roam around, dance – other than scoring runs. As soon as the match is over, if he is getting free drinks, he will take that to his room or go to the room and have a lot of drinks,” Sehwag, who served as mentor of KXIP, said.
“So, I never felt that he is that serious about the game. When he comes to the IPL, he is more serious about his golf than cricket. Because if you are that serious, the performance shows.”