Kolkata : Australian all rounder Glenn Maxwell in his newly launched Book has made shocking revelations regarding his fall out with Indian legend Virender Sehwag in IPL 2017. He said the 2 never spoke again post that season.
Glenn Maxwell served Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab) from IPL 2014-17. Where he had a brilliant IPL 2014 with Bat scoring 552 runs and Strike Rate of 187 , playing a vital role in Punjab’s entry to final, his form saw a dip in eventual years.
In 2017 IPL Virender Sehwag took up mentorship role of the side and Maxwell was handed over the captaincy. Maxwell’s form wasn’t up to the mark both as player as well as captain. With Bat he scored 310 runs in 13 innings without a single half century and Punjab narrowly missed Playoffs spot with 7 wins in 14 Matches.
However, Maxwell revealed that his relationship with then Punjab owner Sehwag strained eventually by multiple events during and post season.
Interference in Playing 11
Maxwell revealed that Sehwag imposed his presence, didn’t pay heed to any decision of skipper Maxwell and other members of the squad regarding the final decision of playing 11.
The Aussie said, “When it came to selection, I thought it might be a good idea to bring the coaches into a WhatsApp group to make our decisions. Everyone agreed to this and shared their teams, with the exception of Sehwag”.
“At the end of the process, he made it clear that he would pick the starting XI, end of story. We were losing on and off the field by now, with Sehwag on more than one occasion making decisions that didn’t necessarily make sense”, Maxwell added.
Removal from WhatsApp group and open public criticism
Maxwell further revealed the incident of Sehwag removing him from WhatsApp Group and hurling insulting remarks in open public forum.
“The season came down to our final group game against Pune away from home, and we had a shocker batting first on a wet wicket, rolled for 73. It was all over. In the context of what was going on, I’m still quite proud of how we were able to broadly keep the show on the road until that stage,” Maxwell began.
“I was also happy with how I performed, doing the right thing as leader by giving myself the chance to influence games at the right time with bat and ball. Of course, we were all flat not to make the post-season, but it could have been so much worse”.
“I volunteered to do press that night, but Sehwag said he would instead. Upon getting onto the team bus, I found I’d been deleted from the main WhatsApp group. What was going on here? By the time we reached the hotel my phone was blowing up, with Sehwag having unloaded on me as a “big disappointment”,blaming me for not taking responsibility as captain, and all the rest. It was unpleasant, especially when I thought we had parted on good terms.”
‘Don’t need a fan like you’, end of relationship
Maxwell, clearly shocked by Sehwag’s comments, decided to text the India legend, only to face further rebuke.
“I texted him to say how much it hurt to read those comments and added that he had lost a fan in me for the way he had conducted himself. Sehwag’s response was simple: “Don’t need fan like you.” We never spoke again. I knew my time was at an end and told the owners as much: if Sehwag was going to stick around, they were making a mistake and not to bother with me. He only lasted one more season,” Maxwell wrote in his Book.
Maxwell returned to the side after 3 years in 2020 , Sehwag leaving out 2 years earlier. However, he had a dismal outing in that season yet again and Punjab released him the following year.
Since then ; 2021, Maxwell has been representing Royal Challengers Bengaluru with terrific form.
However, after Maxwell’s poor run with Bat this season, Sehwag yet again took a dig at Maxwell stating that he’s enjoying Golf, dancing, free drinks even after poor performances. It’s uncertain now whether the duo’s relationship is bitter till date.
