Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) endured another failure in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 as they lost their 5th game of the campaign from 6 matches. While it was a rare occasion where both KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal failed to notch up a big score, many saw the game as an opportunity for the under-fire Glenn Maxwell to score big.
The Australian hard-hitter, however, failed to make the opportunity count and departed after scoring just 7 runs from 12 balls. Former India cricketer, Virender Sehwag, speaking to Cricbuzz, expressed his astonishment over Maxwell’s continuous failures especially considering the amount of money Punjab spent on him.
“Don’t know what sort of a platform Glenn Maxwell needs to explode. He came in early (against Sunrisers Hyderabad) after Punjab lost two batsmen quickly. A lot of overs were left this time, but he failed. Earlier, he didn’t have pressure (batting in the death overs in previous matches), yet he got out without performing,” he aid.
Sehwag further raised questions on franchises’ big money moves for Maxwell almost every IPL season. He was bought for a whopping INR 10.75 crore ahead of this season’s auction. In the IPL 2018 auction, he was bought by Delhi Capitals for INR 9 crore.
While the Aussie hard-hitter has always cost the franchises big, his numbers in the T20 league have been pretty ordinary. So far in the IPL, he has played 75 matches and scored just 1445 runs at an average of 22.23.
“I can’t quite understand his mindset because it’s been the same story every year. He gets sold in the auction for a hefty price but the result remains the same. Yet, people (franchises) run after him. This is something I don’t understand,” said the former KXIP coach.
Speaking of the auction ahead of next year’s IPL, Sehwag predicted a cost between Rs. 1-2 crore for Maxwell.
“In the next auction, I think his price will drop from 10 crores to somewhere around Rs. 1-2 crores which is what it should be. It has to be kept in mind that he scored his last half-century in 2016. Today, he was only required to give Pooran some company. If he could just stay at the other end of the pitch, Pooran might have won KXIP the match. In the end, Pooran was left alone and got dismissed,” Viru opined.
