When Virat Kohli came up with the idea of Glenn Maxwell joining him and AB de Villiers in the RCB middle-order
Australian batter Glenn Maxwell has revealed how Royal Challengers Bengaluru's ace batter Virat Kohli came up with the idea of the Victorian joining the franchise. The revelation comes from Maxwell's book, "The Showman", which will be available to all from October 30.
Maxwell has been a part of the IPL since 2012 and won the league title once with Mumbai Indians back in 2013. He has been a part of Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians, Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
In the excerpt from the book, Maxwell mentioned his tumultuous campaign in 2020. He could only manage 108 runs that season and failed to clear the ropes even once. In the Australia tour that followed, Virat Kohli made a proposition to Maxwell, asking him to join the Bengaluru-based franchise. Regarding this, Maxwell, in his book, has written:
"But I still felt there had to be a twist in this story, and there was. Who to thank? Virat Kohli. On that tour of Australia, he wanted to whisper an idea to me: him, me and AB de Villiers to be the middle order at Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2021.
"I was in love with this before he finished his sentence. Having started with Sachin and Ricky, the chance to bat with the equivalent of them in my own generation, in those gold pads no less, was irresistible."
The 35-year-old also wrote about his emotions in the lead-up to the auction and how he felt when RCB raised the paddle for him. He added:
"Before then, auctions had come and gone. This time, though, I was obsessed. When the paddle came down for me from RCB, I was the happiest cricketer in the world. It was in Bangalore where I would begin my second act as a player. And it is what I learned in Bangalore colours that would allow me to play the most important cricket of my life."
Glenn Maxwell's future with RCB yet to be decided with IPL mega auction in sight
Royal Challengers Bengaluru acquired Glenn Maxwell in the 2021 auction for ₹14.25 crore. He was one of the most expensive acquisitions at that year's auctions and the second most expensive player behind Kyle Jamieson (₹15 crore) for RCB. He scored 513 runs that season and picked up three wickets as RCB crashed out in the Eliminator of the 2021 IPL.
Maxwell was then retained alongside Virat Kohli and Mohammed Siraj for the next three years for an amount of ₹11 crore. Since then, he has scored 753 runs and picked up 15 wickets in three seasons with the Bengaluru-based franchise. They finished in the top half of the table on two out of three occasions.
With the retentions to be announced on October 31, it will be interesting to see whether Glenn Maxwell will be in the future plans of the franchise.