Kolkata : Australian and former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) all rounder Glenn Maxwell has spoken up about the ‘beautiful exit’ he received from the franchise.
Maxwell joined RCB in 2021 & stayed there for 4 seasons. He was in peak form in the period of 2021-2024 , playing an integral part to help the team reach playoffs in 2021, 2022 seasons. He also became RCB’s 5th highest run scorer with 1266 runs in 52 matches.
The Aussie saw a dip in form in 2024 season, scoring 52 runs in 10 matches, as a result of which the team’s middle order remained a weakling.
As a result, RCB left out Glenn Maxwell ahead of IPL 2025 auction. They only retained Virat Kohli, Yash Dayal & Rajat Patidar, leaving out big hitter Maxwell and previous captain Faf Du Plessis.
However, Maxwell was rather happy having a beautiful chat with the RCB authorities – team director Mo Bobat & coach Andy Flower , who explained him their strategy to leave him out.
“I got a phone call from Mo Bobat and Andy Flower. It was a zoom call, they sort of explained to me the decision not to be retained. It was actually a very beautiful exit meeting. We ended up talking about the game for almost half an hour – talking about the strategy, looking to go forward. I was really happy with that,” Maxwell said on Around The Wicket podcast.
Maxwell felt that if every franchise does this, relationship with players would stay healthy. As per him, RCB will change few staffs thus, they’re sorting things out. Interestingly, he also wrote in his Book of how Punjab Kings mistreated him post 2017 IPL.
“If every team did that, I think it would probably make the relationship smoother. I could not speak high enough of the way that they dealt with the whole situation. They are changing a few of their staff as well so they needed to get that sorted before they started talking to players.”
Maxwell, with 2 crores base price will go into the auction. Despite understanding their strategy of retaining 3 Indian players in the squad, he remains hopeful and eager to go back to the franchise and says his journey there isn’t over. He revealed that he enjoyed playing there.
He said, “I understood that process was going to take a bit of time. But yeah, you start to get edgier around that last date – whether you’re going to get retained, but completely understandable the direction they are heading in. They need three Indians to build that core and hopefully the overseas can complement those locals. I wouldn’t say my RCB journey is over; I would certainly like to get back there. It was a great franchise to play for and really enjoyed my game there”.
