IPL 2021: People call RCB’s Maxwell ‘sub-continent specialist’

New Delhi: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has said that the 2014 Indian Premier League (IPL) performance made people in Australia believe that he was a sub-continent specialist.

Maxwell played for Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in IPL 2014. The first leg of that tournament was played in the UAE, and Maxwell was able to light up the tournament and that edition saw the best of the right-handed batsman.

“I have been a massive beneficiary of the IPL. It is certainly fast-tracked my international T20 career, I have been able to experience the Indian conditions, we had an IPL in Dubai in 2014 and I was able to perform really well over there. After that, I got a bit pigeon-holed in Australia over being a sub-continent specialist. It got me a few ODIs and Test tours which I probably would not have been able to do so if not for the IPL,” Maxwell said in a video posted on the official Twitter handle of RCB.

“I still remember chatting with Sachin Tendulkar in my first year at the IPL, the fact the I was an Aussie, I joked with him, I think he liked that. He was brilliant with the sort of way he opened up his world to him. Every year you come to the IPL, it is a massive learning experience,” he added.

In the first game of IPL 2021, Maxwell played a knock of 39 runs to help RCB defeat Mumbai Indians by two wickets here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Maxwell revealed how the build-up for the IPL auction was for him and how teammate Adam Zampa had a funny role in RCB picking him.

“There is actually a funny story, the day of the auction, we were training on the day of the auction in New Zealand while we were in quarantine. Adam Zampa had his RCB hat in his bag and he took out it, and he made sure to send a photo to Virat saying let’s have Maxwell in our team. It was like Zampa saying Virat congratulations, I have already given Maxwell his RCB cap. It all happened really well, it would have looked silly if it did not work out this way. Virat said you guys are idiots after Zampa sent him the picture,” said Maxwell.

Speaking about his bond with spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, Maxwell said: “I am certainly looking forward to playing with my little friend (Yuzvendra Chahal). He has already played a few pranks on me since I have been here. We were in the squad together in 2013 while playing for Mumbai Indians so we have been friends for a long time, we have been close ever since and every time we come up against each other, we hug before the game. We always try to have fun and keep smiles on the faces.”

Maxwell also said that the Indian talent in the RCB side is quite impressive and it will push the foreign players to keep performing day and day out this season.

“I think I look at the depth of the Indian talent RCB has got, it is something that really excited me. It is pretty scary how talented these young kids are. It puts pressure on our international stars to keep performing. You want pressure coming from underneath, we have to make sure that we are performing for RCB. We have got specialist openers and very good Indian bowlers. You have Chahal, who is going to be massive for us this year,” said Maxwell.