Why RCB may not retain Glenn Maxwell in next IPL Auction

Even though Glenn Maxwell has made his mark for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2021, former India player turned commentator, Aakash Chopra, feels the explosive Australian batsman may not be retained by the Virat Kohli led side for the next year’s edition. While RCB have so far got the best out of Maxwell, Chopra […]
 
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Why RCB may not retain Glenn Maxwell in next IPL Auction

Even though Glenn Maxwell has made his mark for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2021, former India player turned commentator, Aakash Chopra, feels the explosive Australian batsman may not be retained by the Virat Kohli led side for the next year’s edition.

While RCB have so far got the best out of Maxwell, Chopra believes it would still be a huge bet on the franchise’s part to back him to continue producing the goods in the IPL 2022 as well when they can put their vote of confidence on some other candidate in the retention queue.

In a video shared over his Youtube channel, the commentator said RCB can never be 100% sure of Glenn Maxwell’s consistency with the bat.

Why RCB may not retain Glenn Maxwell in next IPL Auction

Glenn Maxwell is RCB’s top run-getter heading into the UAE leg of IPL 2021.

“RCB have options. Whichever team has options, it means they are very nicely placed in terms of their whole resources. I don’t think you will want to retain Glenn Maxwell however many runs he scores. You never know which side of him will turn up,” he said.

Why RCB may not retain Glenn Maxwell in next IPL Auction

Glenn Maxwell in IPL: explosive but inconsistent

Chopra’s comment was a sad reflection of how Glenn Maxwell has gone over the years in the IPL. Even though he is topping the run-charts for RCB at the halfway mark in IPL 2021 with 223 runs at an average of 37.16 and strike-rate of 144.80, he had multiple poor seasons with the bat before joining his new team.

Maxwell made only 108 runs from his 13 innings of the IPL 2020 in UAE and had a strike-rate of only 101.88 before he was duly released by the Punjab Kings (PBKS). In his overall IPL career, he has made 1,728 runs with a strike-rate of 153.32 but while averaging only 23.35 runs per innings.

While keeping Glenn Maxwell would be a risk, Chopra said one thing not up for debate as far as RCB are concerned is the imminent retention of their skipper Virat Kohli and batting great AB de Villiers.

“Kohli is your first retention, you will want to keep AB de Villiers at No.2, he is an ageless, timeless wonder. He is a miracle. You will want to keep these two,” he said on two modern-day batting legends, who have been RCB’s two big keys to success over the years.

Besides the option to retain their first-choice picks, RCB will also get the chance to use the RTM cards in the mega auction for what will be a 10-team IPL 2022. In this category, Chopra reckons experienced legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal and promising young opening batsman Devdutt Padikkal should be the two priority picks.

“You will definitely want to use your RTM on two players. One is Yuzi Chahal and the other is Devdutt Padikkal. These will be the four players (with Kohli and De Villiers) in my mind, you should try to keep these four with you because if you keep them, your core will be ready. After that, you can start afresh,” concluded the former India Test opener.

RCB’s immediate focus, however, will be on maintaining their bright form in the second half of the IPL 2021. Kohli’s men have won five and lost only two of their seven matches and are placed third in the eight-team points table. They’ll resume their campaign on September 20 against two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Abu Dhabi.