One of the more forgettable IPL tournaments with the bat came to end with a lofted drive to long-on. It was Glenn Maxwell‘s fourth duck of the season for Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
What on earth was that from Glenn Maxwell?,” Kevin Pietersen said on the broadcast. “That there from Maxwell, I’m afraid to say, is not good enough.”
It left Maxwell with 52 runs from nine innings (28 of those coming in one knock) and an average of 5.77 in IPL 2024. For those who have played at least nine innings in a season only Sunil Narine (2023) and Daniel Sams (2022) have finished with a lower average and the majority of their innings came in the lower order.
“It was the shot of a guy who had almost had enough of the IPL this year, it’s been a difficult campaign for him, his bowling has been a highlight, his batting has just been poor,” former Australia captain Aaron Finch said on ESPN’s Around The Wicket.
The season never got going for Maxwell who stepped away from the side midway through the competition having spoken to captain Faf du Plessis and coach Andy Flower before he would likely have been dropped. Had Will Jacks not been recalled for England duty, Maxwell may well not have made the XI in the latter stages as RCB mounted their remarkable run to the knockouts.
Players go through peaks and troughs of form, it’s not the end of the world even if Maxwell’s slump is on the more extreme end. If there had been no cricket to follow the IPL for Maxwell it could probably be parked, but that is not the case with the T20 World Cup just days away and him being a pivotal part of Australia’s hopes to adding to their one men’s title in the format from 2021.
