The hard-hitting Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has had his ups and downs in the Indian Premier League (IPL). There were times when he had the achievements of being the player of the tournament for the Punjab Kings (then known as Kings XI Punjab) and also conflicts in the back room. In his book The Showman, Maxwell describes his interconnected web of experiences of the IPL and also his relationship with Virender Sehwag, a former player and coach who most of the time mentored him. It is 2014 that bears testimony to the heyday of Maxwell’s career as he was signing with Kings XI Punjab that year. The side was leading the points standings only losing three games and went to the finals after this when a dominant Maxwell scored 552 runs with more 6s than anyone else. Still, Knight Riders of Kolkata brought down Punjab’s dream of becoming champions in the tournament. Therefore, It is no wonder that despite the almost impossible task of reaching the final, a profound disappointment prevailed towards this the nearest to ideal season. “We lost in the last over. There is almost no such thing as the perfect season in the IPL And still no trophy.”
After such a performance, strengthened by prior persuasion, Maxwell was convinced that the team would revolve around him. Yet, there came a drop in standards almost immediately. After that, the slide began and it was possible to see that the sliding form of Punjab came two seasons later when they ended up last, Maxwell had issues concerning his own game performance apostagize and how to deal with the negativity that would come with the performance slump cocksure. “Being a younger player, this was worse. I questioned myself, absorbed the poison, read the tweets,” said Maxwell, reminiscing about the earlier days.
In 2017, Maxwell returned to the Kings XI setup, hoping to make up for the lost time where he performed below par. This time, however, much to his surprise, Sehwag, who was previously an active cricketer, was a mentor but informed Maxwell that he was also taking on the captaincy. It was in such terms that Maxwell accepted the additional charge, believing they were both on the same wavelength. Yet, things turned sour soon as the extent of Sehwag’S control over team affairs became clear. With coach J Arunkumar having just been appointed in his first season, it was claimed that Sehwag also assumed some coaching responsibilities which resulted in conflicting instructions to players and coaches. Even with that error, it was clear that there were weak links in the setup, and Maxwell talks about the challenges of leadership in such a situation, especially where there were what seemed to be irrational selection policies that were detrimental to the spirit of the team. There was an example, which he recalls, of Ishant Sharma being last minute included in a game, notwithstanding him being left out of playing in the game.
As time passed, Sehwag’s grip on all the players only became tighter, and after a very futile campaign, the rivalry between Maxwell and the Indian cricketer reached its boiling point. Specially, Maxwell offered to interact with the media, but to his disappointment, Sewa did not think there was a need and decided to take it up on himself. Maxwell was subsequently left in disbelief after hearing that Sewa had engrained some nasty words towards him in the media and called him a “huge disappointment.” “It was quite bad because I did not expect it having thought we squashed it all,” Maxwell said. After that incident, the two never shared a conversation, and Maxwell triggered the franchise owners that he will be leaving the team if Sehwag stays. Sehwag’S association with the fr…
