Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell is one of the biggest hitters of a cricket ball around the world. Maxwell, who has smashed 443 T20 sixes in his career, had received a massive contract worth INR 10.75 crore during Indian Premier League 2020 auction. However, neither of the above mentioned number of sixes had come whilst playing for Punjab Kings (Kings XI Punjab then) that season.
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In spite of being highly inconsistent in the biggest T20 league across the globe, Maxwell has always managed to seal opulent deals over the years. It is his match-winning ability on paper which usually tempts franchises into chasing him on the day of the auction. Even in the Australian national team, he has managed to retain his place despite severe criticism multiple times in all these years.
Maxwell, whose best IPL season had also come for Punjab nine years ago, couldn’t repay their faith in a lone season of his second stint with them on the back of not even playing one memorable knock across 11 innings.
Glenn Maxwell, Who Has Hit 443 Sixes In T20s, Could Not Score A Single One In IPL 2020 Despite INR 10.75 Crore Price Tag
Having registered himself for a base price of INR 2 crore, the all-rounder first enticed Kings XI as they made the opening bid right away. A daunting competition from Delhi Capitals didn’t allow any other franchise to participate in this bidding war.
However, nothing went right for Maxwell that season as he managed to score just 108 runs at an average and strike rate of 15.42 and 101.88 respectively. Astonishingly, he could hit just nine fours that season. It is worth of a mention that the right-handed batter remained not out on four occasions.
Among the remaining seven dismissals, one was run out while the other six were catches. Maxwell, who always got out in search of scoring quick runs, wasn’t offered a batting promotion even once. A player like Maxwell playing just 106 balls throughout the season remains beyond explanation till date.
Talking about his disastrous performance a year later, Maxwell highlighted that lack of cricket before the tournament played a big part. For the unversed, none of the players played a lot of competitive cricket in the build-up to IPL 2020 because of COVID-19 pandemic.
“Last year [2020] was a nightmare. It can be hard work, T20, if you’re a middle-order player, you’re not getting a lot of balls in the middle, you are not getting consistency,” Maxwell had said as quoted by Hindustan Times.
Notwithstanding a devastating campaign, Maxwell fetched a bid of INR 14.25 crore from Royal Challengers Bangalore during IPL 2021 auction. Interestingly, Maxwell turned the tables and showed his class to the world in this season by scoring 513 runs at an average and strike rate of 42.75 and 144.10 respectively.
RCB, who showed immense faith in Maxwell, promoted him in the batting order a lot of times. As a result, Maxwell thrived playing alongside legendary duo of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Still with the franchise, he remains one of their most important players.
Has Glenn Maxwell Scored The Most Number Of Sixes For An Australian Batter?
Speaking of all T20s, former cricketers such as Shane Watson (467) and Aaron Finch (467) are the only two Australians who have hit more sixes than Maxwell. That being said, it shouldn’t require a lot of time for Maxwell in surpassing his two former national captains.
As far as the overall numbers are concerned, Maxwell is at the ninth position behind Chris Gayle (1,056), Kieron Pollard (812), Andre Russell (605), Colin Munro (503), Brendon McCullum (485), Rohit Sharma (479), Watson and Finch. Barring McCullum, each one of the remaining cricketers are active T20 campaigners. Therefore, it will be interesting to see where Maxwell ends on this list by the end of his career.
