'He said he is happy at RCB. Does that mean he was unhappy at Punjab?': Gavaskar decodes Maxwell's massive turnaround
Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar tried to analyse Maxwell’s statement. The cricketer-turned-commentator questioned if the Australian wasn’t happy in PBKS last season.
Glenn Maxwell has been enjoying a purple patch in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. Right after joining the Royal Challengers Bangalore, he has unveiled his real self. Unlike last year, when he failed to hit a single six, Maxwell has been one of the top performers of the league and continues to be a vital cog in RCB’s batting unit.
In IPL 2020, Maxwell played for Punjab and to everyone’s surprise he had one of the worst seasons. He had scored just 108 runs in 13 matches, without any half-centuries or sixes to his credit. As a result, the franchise decided to release him before the auctions for the next season.
This year, he was roped in by RCB and in return, he delivered with some ferocious knocks. The all-rounder himself has admitted that he is enjoying being with RCB.
IPL 2021 RCB vs PBKS Live Score
Meanwhile, former India captain and batting legend Sunil Gavaskar tried to analyse Maxwell’s statement. The cricketer-turned-commentator questioned if the Australian wasn’t happy in PBKS last season.
While speaking on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “He [Maxwell] said he is happy here. What does that mean, was he unhappy there? You don’t even need to read between the lines when you say he is happy with RCB. It means he was not very happy or comfortable at Punjab. So maybe the fact that Maxwell is not really the ‘Big Show’ here as far as RCB are concerned because here there is Virat Kohli, who is the biggest show and there is AB de Villiers.”
Gavaskar further opined that the presence of Kohli and De Villiers in the team provides Maxwell the freedom of playing his natural game.
“Batting between the two of them is giving him that confidence, that comfort that ‘it is not entirely dependent on me to take the score to a big score. These two are capable of doing it as well.’ So that pressure is taken off his shoulders as well,” Gavaskar added.
Following Sunil Gavaskar’s statement, Maxwell played another ravishing knock in the IPL 2021 match no. 48 against his previous team, PBKS. He scored 57 off 33 balls, including 4 sixes and 3 boundaries. This was his fifth half-century in the tournament and third in the UAE. So far, he has scored 407 runs at an average of 40.70.