‘He allowed Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers to think freely’: Parthiv Patel lauds Glenn Maxwell’s comeback in IPL 2021
IPL 2021: While speaking on the Star Sports network, the former RCB cricketer stated that Maxwell’s inclusion allowed skipper Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers too ‘think freely’.
Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell had a terrible outing in the IPL 2020. Playing for Punjab, he scored just 184 runs in 14 matches, and the most shocking part – he couldn’t hit a single six. But this year, things changed drastically for him, and once again, he was one of the highlights of this exotic T20 league. Maxwell was with the Royal Challengers Bangalore now.
The dynamic all-rounder justified his price tag of ₹14.25 crore in the season opener by slamming 28-ball 39, including 2 maximums. He continued the momentum and amassed a total of 223 runs before the tournament was suspended. He averaged 37.16, while his strike rate was 144.80.
Former Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel heaped praise on Maxwell’s contribution which added an extra feature in Bangalore’s batting order. While speaking on the Star Sports network, the former RCB cricketer stated that Maxwell’s inclusion allowed skipper Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers too ‘think freely’.
“I thought he [Maxwell] was brilliant to start with in this tournament, especially on the wickets like Chennai. He does play spin well but those were very very difficult wickets to play spin,” Parthiv told Star Sports.
“I thought his comeback was brilliant for RCB and that allowed Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers to think freely. Yes, they were getting the runs, there is no doubt about it but sometimes you need your mind to think freely that if we get out there is a Maxwell who can do the job for them,” he added.
The cricketer-turned-commentator further said that the Australian all-rounder paid the ‘dividends’ for the whopping amount he received from the franchise.
“Sending him [Maxwell] at No.4, which bisected AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli in the batting lineup, was brilliant. It was great to see that the amount of money which was paid to Glenn Maxwell, he has just started to give dividends for that,” concluded Patel.