"We never spoke again" - Glenn Maxwell opens up on his fallout with Virender Sehwag while leading Punjab franchise in IPL 2017
Australia's batting all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has opened up on his fallout with Virender Sehwag while leading Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 season. In his book 'The Showman', he alleged that Sehwag pulled the strings as the franchise's Director of Cricket Operations and even decided the playing XI.
Maxwell had a sensational season for the Punjab franchise in IPL 2014, clobbering 552 runs at a strike rate of 187.75 as the team finished runners-up that year. The maverick Aussie was named captain of the team for 2017 season. The franchise had a mixed season, losing seven of their 14 games to finish fifth in the eight-team points table. Punjab crashed out of the edition after a nine-wicket loss to Pune.
ESPNcricinfo shared an extract from Maxwell's book in which he was extremely critical of the way Sehwag allegedly interfered with proceedings as Punjab franchise’s Director of Cricket Operation during IPL 2017.
"I was going to be captain, which Sehwag told me when we met during the Test series. We had played together, but now he had retired into what was described at the time as a "mentor" role. We discussed how the team would operate and I thought we were all on the same page," Maxwell wrote in his book.
"How wrong I was. Our coach, J Arunkumar, was coming in for his first season, and it became clear to him that he was coach in name only, with Sehwag pulling the strings... Privately, though, I had coaches and players coming to me asking what on earth was going on, and I found it difficult to give them a straight answer," the Aussie all-rounder went on to add.
The 36-year-old further stated that he wanted to bring the coaches into a WhatsApp group for decision-making, but Sehwag dismissed the idea and even made it clear that he would pick the starting XI.
Maxwell also recalled that after the team was all-out for 73 in their last league game, he volunteered to take questions at the press conference. However, Sehwag decided that he would go and put the blame on the skipper for not taking responsibility as leader of the pack.
"Upon getting onto the team bus, I found I'd been deleted from the main WhatsApp group. What was going on here? By the time we reached the hotel my phone was blowing up, with Sehwag having unloaded on me as a "big disappointment", blaming me for not taking responsibility as captain, and all the rest. It was unpleasant, especially when I thought we had parted on good terms," the Australian cricket wrote.
"I texted him to say how much it hurt to read those comments and added that he had lost a fan in me for the way he had conducted himself. Sehwag's response was simple: "Don't need fan like you." We never spoke again. I knew my time was at an end and told the owners as much: if Sehwag was going to stick around, they were making a mistake and not to bother with me," he added.
Maxwell failed to deliver the goods as a batter in IPL 2017. In 14 matches, he scored 310 runs at an average of 31 and a strike rate of 173.18, with a best of 47.
Maxwell has been part of RCB since IPL 2021
Having represented various franchises in the IPL, Maxwell was picked by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for the IPL 2021 season. He had a great debut season for the franchise, hammering 513 runs at a strike rate of 144.10, with six half-centuries.
The 36-year-old, however, had a disastrous season with the willow in IPL 2024. He managed only 52 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 120.93. It remains to be seen whether RCB retain Maxwell ahead of the IPL 2025 auction.