Virat Kohli, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain spoke at length in the latest episode of ‘Bold Diaries’ about Glenn Maxwell — and how his team management targeted the Australian all-rounder in the IPL 2021 auction held at Chennai in February
Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli is thrilled at the prospect of having Glenn Maxwell in his squad this season as they begin their hunt for the elusive IPL title when the tournament begins on April 9.
Virat Kohli Specifically Targeted Glenn Maxwell At The IPL Auction
RCB shelled out a whopping Rs 14.25 crore for Glenn Maxwell, who was released by Punjab Kings(formerly KXIP) earlier this year following a relatively sub-standard performance in IPL 2020. The Australian all-rounder has a very underwhelming record in the IPL but was still hot property at the mini-auction in February.
Even before the auction, Glenn Maxwell had expressed his desire to play for RCB under his good friend Virat Kohli, who was also keen on having the Aussie star in his squad this season.
The Indian and RCB skipper opened up about the Australian all-rounder and how the RCB think-tank targeted him in the auction in the latest episode of ‘Bold Diaries’.
“We wanted Maxi, specifically targeted him at the auction in February. You obviously feel great when things end up happening to where you thought they would.”
“Zamps sent me that picture of them (Zampa and Maxwell) at a practice session handing over the RCB cap even before the auction happened. Zamps a very funny guy, thought it was hilarious and I sent it to Maxi as well.”
“He’s a good guy, we’ve caught up in the past as well when I was in Australia on a tour. He’s just very happy to be in RCB and I see different energy about him this time,” Virat Kohli told RCB’s Danish Sait.
Glenn Maxwell has played 82 IPL matches where he has amassed 1505 runs and picked up 19 wickets. He failed at UAE in 2020 where he managed to score only 108 runs averaging a pathetic 15.42 at a strike rate of below 102.
Virat Kohli Feels Lot Of Experience Added In RCB Team This Time
Virat Kohli went on to add that he doesn’t want anyone in his squad to feel as though he is the focal point in the team so that it doesn’t put undue pressure on the player.
RCB will take on Mumbai Indians in the tournament-opener in Chennai on Friday. RCB bought Glenn Maxwell (Rs 14.25 crore, Kyle Jamieson (Rs 15 crore), Dan Christian (Rs 4.8 crore), and 5 other players at their base price. KS Bharat, Suyash Prabhudessai, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Rajat Patidar, Sachin Baby were the other 5 buys.
“I don’t think as much as you guys, I mean you as in within your team, want to be the match-winner. You don’t want to be the centre of attention all the time and I think that’s something that happened with Maxwell. There’s too much focus and attention on you.”
“We have decided to pick him, he’s not demanding to go to any team. When you decide to pick a player its very important to manage the player as well. And I think having guys like Maxi, Dan Christian, Kyle Jamieson… lot of experience that we’ve added in the team this time.”
“We have a squad where we don’t want anyone to be the focal point of the team, we want a strong squad all over that can feed off each other and have a great balance and move forward in one direction.
“And that has to be the communication within our group as well. No one is going to be put in with the most amount of load and the others just do auxiliary work. Everyone has to pull together so the weight is spread evenly and then all the situations can be tackled accordingly,” Virat Kohli stated.
The team retained just 12 players while releasing as many as 10 players that included some notable names like Aaron Finch, Chris Morris, and Moeen Ali. RCB traded Harshal Patel and Daniel Sams from Delhi Capitals (DC).
IPL 2021 gets underway with five-time champions and holders Mumbai Indians taking on Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on April 9.
RCB Probable Playing XI: Virat Kohli(c), Finn Allen (wk)/ Devdutt Padikkal, AB De Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Azharuddeen/ Rajat Patidar, Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Mohammed Siraj, Shahbaz Ahmed/ Dan Christian, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal.