'Sometimes, it isn't the smartest move. When I got the call...': Maxwell recalls moment he realised RCB retained him
Glenn Maxwell was retained by the Royal Challengers Bangalore after a stellar 2021 season in the IPL, where he scored 513 runs in 15 matches.
Royal Challengers Bangalore's star all-rounder Glenn Maxwell was one of the three players who were retained by the franchise ahead of the 2022 Indian Premier League edition. Maxwell, who was bought by the RCB in the preceding season of the tournament, was one of the key players for the side as it reached the playoffs stage, and will look to feature for the franchise yet again as he made a return to cricket last month after a leg injury.
Maxwell has had multiple stints with different franchises (Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai Indians, and Kings XI Punjab) in the league, but hadn't been as consistent as he had been at the RCB. In a freewheeling chat with Danish Sait for the RCB Podcast, Maxwell revealed that he didn't expect the Bangalore franchise to retain him even after a stellar 2021 season, where he scored 513 runs in 15 matches for the side at an impressive strike rate of 144.10.
“You never know what’s gonna happen because it’s a big auction. And like, with how many people they were going to retain and we had, obviously, a couple of bowlers — Siraj, Harshal, Yuzi (Chahal), then AB, Virat, and those young Indian players, and all could have been retained at some stage. So to retain an overseas batter, sometimes isn’t the smartest move," Maxwell said.
"It seems straightforward, but in my head, there was obviously a lot more I had to go through. When I got the phone call that I was gonna be retained, I was pumped and couldn’t wait to stick around,” said Maxwell.
In the 2022 edition of the tournament, Maxwell scored 301 runs in 13 matches for the side, playing at a brilliant strike rate of 169.10. Maxwell also took six wickets for the side in the edition.
RCB will begin their campaign in IPL 2023 against Rohit Sharma's Mumbai Indians on April 2 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
