IPL 2024: Glenn Maxwell takes "mental and physical" break

Glenn Maxwell (Pic: File Pic)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru all-rounder Glenn Maxwell decided to take a "mental and physical" break from the IPL 2024 after his disappointing form in batting. Maxwell did not feature in the IPL 2024 match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium which was initially attributed to a finger injury. He sustained this injury during the clash against Mumbai Indians.

"It was a pretty easy decision. I went to Faf and the coaches after the last game (vs Mumbai Indians) and said it was probably time we tried someone else (in his place)," Maxwell said in the post-match press meet.

"It's actually a good time to give myself a bit of a mental and physical break, get my body right. If I'm required to get in during the tournament, I can, hopefully, get back into a solid mental and physical space where I can make an impact," he added.

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This is not the first time, the veteran opted out of the game. Previously in 2019, he cited the reason of mentally and physically ruined to take a break from the game. Later on, he made a comeback after two months.

In the IPL 2024, Maxwell is yet to put on an impressive show with the willow. In six matches, he has only scored 32 runs at an average of 5.33 and a strike-rate of 94.

Twenty-eight of those 32 runs came against Kolkata Knight Riders alone, helped to a great degree by two dropped catches. "I have been in this situation in the past where you can keep playing and get yourself deeper into a hole. We have had a pretty big deficiency after the power play, which has been my area of strength over the last couple of seasons.

"I felt like I wasn't contributing with the bat, and with the results and the position we find ourselves on the table, I think it's a good time to give someone else an opportunity to show their wares, and hopefully, someone can make that spot their own," a candid Maxwell said.
The big-hitting Australian, however, still hoped to return and make an impact in the later stages of the tournament.

"The management here has been outstanding. I don't think I've had a better six months in cricket leading into this tournament. "So, it's frustrating when it ends up like this. But if I can get my body and my mind right, there's no reason I can't finish the tournament well if I do get another opportunity," he said.

The sudden dip in his form was surprising as from November onwards, he scored 552 runs in 17 T20I matches.

But the Victorian started the IPL 2024 with a first-ball duck against Chennai Super Kings in an away match, and from that point his fortunes plummeted.

"T20 cricket is a pretty fickle game. Even if you look at the first game, I ran one off the middle of the bat to the keeper. I picked up the length, saw a scoring opportunity, but opened the face a little bit too much.

"When you are going well, that goes wide of the (wicketkeeper's) gloves, you get a boundary. You are 4 off 1, and you are away for the tournament," he noted.

"I probably just haven't got away. In the first few games, I feel I made reasonably good decisions (for shot selection). But I was finding ways to get out.

"It can happen in T20 cricket and when it snowballs like that, you can go searching and try too hard and forget the basics of the game," he said.

Maxwell experienced a similar barren run in IPL 2020 while playing for Punjab Kings. During that season, the Australian scored a mere 108 runs from 11 matches and failed to hit a single six.

However, Maxwell did not draw parallels between the two seasons. "I was bowling really well back then. I was actually playing more as a spinner. We had KL (Rahul) and Mayank (Agarwal) who were the two leading run-scorers at that time.

"So, there weren't a lot of balls left in the game (for him). I wasn't able to get any match rhythm. So, I said the same thing to the Punjab management that we can have an overseas bowler in my place.

"But we didn't have an off-spinner, so, I sort of played as an overseas off-spinner who could bat a little bit," he explained.

(With PTI Inputs)