Glenn Maxwell, the 32-year-old acknowledged that he has been a huge beneficiary of the IPL which has been life-changing for him in a recent interview.
Glenn Maxwell made his debut in both limited-overs formats for Australia in 2012, followed by a Test debut in 2013. However, only after the 2014 edition of the IPL did he become a regular in the Australian team.
Glenn Maxwell Has Been A Beneficiary Of IPL Which Fas Tracked His International T20 Career
The batting all-rounder mentioned that his breakout 2014 season, where he scored 552 runs in 16 matches, earned him a sub-continent specialist tag, thereby making it to the Australian squads for all three formats.
“I have been a massive beneficiary of the IPL. It has certainly fast-tracked my international T20 career, I have been able to experience the Indian conditions, we had an IPL in Dubai in 2014 and I was able to perform really well over there.”
“After that, I got a bit pigeon-holed in Australia over being a sub-continent specialist. It got me a few ODIs and Test tours which I probably would not have been able to do if not for the IPL,” Glenn Maxwell said in a video posted on the official Twitter handle of RCB.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has said that the 2014 IPL performance made the Australian cricket fraternity believe that he was a subcontinent specialist. Glenn Maxwell played for Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in IPL 2014.
The first leg of that tournament was played in the UAE, and Maxwell was able to light up the tournament and that edition saw the best of the right-handed batsman. The Australian batsman amassed 300 runs in 5 matches at UAE in 2014 and came close to scoring a hundred thrice.
Glenn Maxwell Recalls Chatting With Legendary Sachin Tendulkar
Before he was picked by the Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in 2014, the Australian represented the Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2013. The Aussie explained how the interactions with Sachin Tendulkar while playing for MI were a huge learning experience.
“I still remember chatting with Sachin Tendulkar in my first year at the IPL, the fact the I was an Aussie, I joked with him, I think he liked that. He was brilliant in the sort of way he opened up his world. Every year you come to the IPL, it is a massive learning experience,” Maxwell added.
He is playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) this season. In the team’s opening game against the Mumbai Indians, he displayed his class with a timely 28-ball 39 that helped his team chase a target of 160 runs.
There was considerable pressure on Glenn Maxwell as he had a poor IPL outing in 2020 (for KXIP at UAE), managing just 108 runs in 13 matches averaging a pathetic 15.42. However, the big-hitting all-rounder was at his dangerous best in 1st match in IPL 2021, hitting 2 sixes and 3 boundaries.
Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 160/8 (AB de Villiers 48, Maxwell 39, Bumrah 2/26) beat Mumbai Indians 159/9 (Chris Lynn 49, Suryakumar Yadav 31, Harshal Patel 5/27) by 2 wickets