Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore have declared themselves to be the favourites to lift the Indian Premier League 2021 trophy this year after four straight wins in the tournament. The emphatic 10-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals earlier this week, courtesy of a century from Devdutt Padikkal, has further shown how strong RCB's squad is in this season. (IPL 2021 Full Coverage)
CSK vs RCB, IPL 2021 Live Score
But there is one person in the squad - who deserves as much credit for the franchise's success this year as Kohli, Padikkal. And even AB de Villiers. That person is Glenn Maxwell.
Maxwell, in the first four games, has smashed 176 runs at an average of 58.66 and a strike rate of 149.15 this season. But after last year's poor showing in the IPL, many were skeptical about RCB's purchase of the Aussie heavy-hitter, and one of them was former England batsman Kevin Pietersen.
"I was sceptical of RCB’s purchase of Glenn Maxwell at the beginning of the tournament, partly because he is ‘The Big Show’ – he likes to be the main man in the teams he plays in," Pietersen wrote in a blog for Betway.
{{/usCountry}}"I was sceptical of RCB’s purchase of Glenn Maxwell at the beginning of the tournament, partly because he is ‘The Big Show’ – he likes to be the main man in the teams he plays in," Pietersen wrote in a blog for Betway.
{{/usCountry}}"He certainly isn’t that here, with Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers at the top of the tree, so it’s surprised me that he’s done so well," Pietersen added.
"He must feel very comfortable in the set-up there. I know that if you make Maxwell feel comfortable and pump his tyres a bit then you will see huge benefits," he further said.
"He is a fabulous player. He can be inconsistent, but we haven’t seen that inconsistency yet this season," Pietersen signed off.
RCB will face off against Chennai Super Kings in the first game of IPL 2021's double-headers on Sunday.