Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell returned to Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s playing XI for its Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Maxwell missed RCB’s last three games of the ongoing season after asking the team management to give him a “mental and physical break”. He had revealed this after sitting out of the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 15.
“It was a pretty easy decision. I went to Faf (du Plessis) and the coaches after the last game and said I felt it was probably time we tried someone else. I have been in this situation in the past where you can keep playing and get yourself deeper into a hole. I think now is actually a good time for me to give myself a bit of a mental and physical break; get my body right. If I’m required to get in during the tournament, I can hopefully get back into a really solid mental and physical space where I can still have an impact,” Maxwell had stated at the post-match press conference after the game against Sunrisers.
The 35-year-old has been woefully out of form this season, scoring just 32 runs in six innings. He has been more effective with the ball, picking four wickets in four innings at an economy rate of 8.44.
RCB skipper Faf du Plessis on Sunday said at the toss that the decision to bring back Maxwell into the team was largely owing to the fact that it was a day game and the hard-hitting middle-order batter could counter Gujarat’s spinners.
Royal Challengers Bangalore Playing XI
Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Will Jacks, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Swapnil Singh, Karn Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal.
