Maxwell Explained Why He Didn't Play

Glenn Maxwell did not play in the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Monday (April 15). The Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter is keeping an eye on his mental and physical well-being. He has communicated this request to the team management so that he can take a bit of rest now and someone else can be given the opportunity instead.

In the ongoing season of the IPL, Maxwell has been struggling to score runs. Before the Monday match, he had only managed to score 32 runs in 6 innings with an average of 5.33. It was speculated that perhaps due to some injury he might not be playing against Hyderabad. However, that was not the case.

After Bangalore's loss, Maxwell expressed, "It was quite an easy decision for me."

"I'll go to Faf (Du Plessis) and the coaches after the last game. And I'll let them know that perhaps it's time to try someone else. I've been in situations like this before, where playing matches after matches feels like digging a hole deeper. I think it's about time to give some thought to my mental and physical well-being."

Maxwell hopes that once he feels healthy and refreshed, he can contribute again for the team.

Before the start of IPL 2024, this Australian batter was in tremendous form in T20 cricket. From November, he played 17 T20 matches and scored an average of 42.46 runs, accumulating 552 runs with a strike rate of 185.85. During this time, he hit 2 centuries.

In the ongoing IPL season, he returned to the pavilion without scoring any runs in the first ball against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). After that, he played two more innings where he scored zero runs. In matches where he scored runs; against Punjab Kings (PBKS) he scored 3 runs, against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) he scored 28 runs, and against Rajasthan Royals (RR), he returned scoring 1 run.

Maxwell believes that T20 cricket can be like this sometimes. But that's not the end of it. Following effective paths to come back again and maintaining the mentality to perform are what this experienced batter is committed to.