Glenn Maxwell and the IPL Woes

Glenn Maxwell, the “Big Show” as the Aussies fondly know him, is being targeted by the media and former international cricketers, especially Indian, for a very poor performance in the recently concluded IPL. The criticism even worsened when he performed exceptionally well for his country in the limited-overs cricket against India at home.

Glenn Maxwell is known for his superb six-hitting ability. However, playing for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the IPL 2020, Maxwell scored just 108 runs in 13 innings without hitting a single six.

In contrast, playing for his country at home against India, he scored 167 runs in 3 ODIs with 3 half-centuries and managing a strike rate of 194.19, smashing 11 sixes in the process. Further, in the T20Is, he hit 5 more sixes and played at a strike rate of above 150.

Even in the Big Bash League game against Brisbane Heat, he helped Melbourne Stars get over the line with a quick knock of 46 runs at a strike rate of 170 smashing 3 more sixes. In all, that is 19 sixes since IPL in just 7 games, whereas in IPL he could not manage even a single six in 13 outings.

Maxwell’s stats in and post IPL games are in stark contrast, and this is what made Virender Sehwag call him a “10 Crore Cheerleader” – a remark on the fact that KXIP bought him for 10.75 Crore in the 2020 IPL Auctions. Sehwag even went on to say that Maxwell is not serious about IPL and that he preferred golf over cricket during the IPL.

Mohammed Kaif, another former Indian cricketer, was a little softer in his views saying that Maxwell might have felt more pressure in the IPL as there is a limit to the number of overseas players in the squad. Kaif also mentioned that it’s not the ability, but the issue with Maxwell is his mindset during the IPL.

The criticism was even fierce as he came into the IPL after, in his own words, playing the ODI innings of his life against England at Old Trafford helping Australia win a thriller. When asked about this debacle, Maxwell brushed off any issue with his batting and blamed it on the constant change in his batting position.

According to him, he was either rebuilding the innings in the top order or had too little time to make an impact at the death. He is not very far from the truth here.

In this fast-paced world, the fans and media have a very short-term memory. Maxwell issue came into the limelight not just because he failed in the IPL but also because he performed exceptionally well in very next tournament for his country.

Playing poorly in the IPL is not new for Maxwell. In the last three seasons in the IPL, Maxwell scored just 587 in 39 innings at an avg of 20. His captain, KL Rahul scored more than 500 runs in this IPL itself. Frankly, barring the exceptional season in 2014 – 552 runs in 16 innings with a strike rate of close to 190 hitting 36 sixes – Maxwell never performed to his potential in the IPL.

Statistically speaking, players in any sport tend to move towards their natural average. It is not uncommon for a cricketer to get back into the form when playing in the familiar weather and pitch conditions at home after a rough patch. After all, this is where Maxwell came into fame and was nicknamed a “big-show”.

Also, his role is pretty well defined in the Australian squad unlike his role in the Kings XI Punjab team. That makes a huge difference. Six-hitting is his forte, and thus, not hitting a single six in the IPL can be put down as a sheer statistical anomaly for there’s nothing to be gained for Maxwell by performing poorly in the high-profile tournament such as IPL.

There’s no doubt Glenn Maxwell needs to improve his IPL performance. But focusing too much on 2020 IPL, a tournament where he historically struggled to perform consistently, will just take away the focus from the main issue.