IPL 2020 | Haven’t got many opportunities to express myself, confesses Glenn Maxwell

In a game of near and dear, Kings XI Punjab have astonishingly found themselves at the rock-bottom of the IPL table, with just one win from seven games. Their loss against Kolkata Knight Riders has left them highly puzzled, with them on top of the game for 37 overs before a freakish bowling attack changed the course for them. However, luckily for Punjab, they still have half of their games left for the season, where they can transform their fortunes. 

Despite the show from their openers, who have scored 724 runs in between them, their fragile middle-order hasn’t stepped up for the party, including Glenn Maxwell. The Australian all-rounder has only scored 58 runs in the seven games, at an average of 14.50 and a below-par strike-rate of 95.08. However, Maxwell has confessed that he hasn’t got many opportunities to express himself, defending his numbers. 

“A month ago, I probably played one of the best innings (108) of my career in England. Not much has changed since, just probably the time at the crease and that opportunity to sort of get myself in. Lot of the time I am trying to get the player who has been batting longer on strike. Yeah, I haven’t got the whole lot of opportunities so far and people will look at the amount of runs I have scored. With the limited opportunities I have got, I still feel I am hitting the ball really well,” Maxwell told Hindustan Times.

“If you look at our batting order, three of the guys batting ahead of me are among the top-10 run scorers in the tournament. It doesn’t leave a whole lot of runs for the guys batting below. I have been not out three times. Probably it shows how little amount of balls I am getting at the end of the innings. I am still trying to do the best I can. I am still batting well,” he added. 

IPL though is one such tournament where anything can change in the hour, with KXIP relying on the rub of the green to change their fortunes. They kick-start that phase with the game against RCB, the only opponent against whom they have won this season. Key for them against RCB would be their skipper KL Rahul, who took scoring in his own hand against his former teammates, with a scintillating century to light up the tournament. 

“He has been really good. He has such a calm head on the shoulder. We have sort of worked together at different times. When he was keeping, I was at mid-off to try and help the bowlers. He would give me messages to pass on to them; I try to channel my inner KL and try to deliver the messages like he would. Unfortunately, we haven’t quite turned them into results, but he has led from the front, performed unbelievably well with the bat,” he added.