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'It isn't...' Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell recalls being retained by RCB ahead of IPL 2022 auction

'It isn't...' Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell recalls being retained by RCB ahead of IPL 2022 auction

'It isn't...' Glenn Maxwell recalls being retained by by RCB ahead of IPL 2022 (Photo | BCCI/IPL).

Glenn Maxwell has been part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) since the 2013 edition. He has represented the likes of Mumbai Indians (MI), Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) -- now known as Punjab Kings (PBKS) -- Delhi Daredevils (DD) -- now renamed as Delhi Capitals (DC) -- before moving to the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) franchise in IPL 2021. While Maxwell had a disastrous run for PBKS in IPL 2020, he was roped in by the RCB franchise ahead of IPL 2021. The Australian star all-rounder repaid the faith shown by the RCB team management with a stellar season.

In IPL 2021, Maxwellscored 513 runs in 15 matches at a strike rate of144.10; one of the reasons for RCB reaching the playoffs. After such an impressive run, there were little doubts in anyone's mind that he won't be retained by the franchise. However, there were limited slots and abundance of talents in RCB's ranks ahead of IPL 2022 mega auction. Nonetheless, he was one of the three players retained -- along with Virat Kohli and Md Siraj -- before the auction. The all-rounder recently recalled his reaction on being retained by the RCB setup.

"You never know what’s gonna happen because it’s a big auction. And like, with how many people they were going to retain and we had, obviously, a couple of bowlers — Siraj, Harshal, Yuzi (Chahal), then AB, Virat, and those young Indian players, and all could have been retained at some stage. So to retain an overseas batter, sometimes isn’t the smartest move," Maxwell said on the RCB Podcast.

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Maxwell added, "It seems straightforward, but in my head, there was obviously a lot more I had to go through. When I got the phone call that I was gonna be retained, I was pumped and couldn’t wait to stick around."

Having been bought by the franchise for INR 14.25 crore, in 2021,Maxwell has now become a vital part of RCB. In the previous edition, he returned with 301 runs in 13 games as RCB once again made it to the playoffs. He will aim for another memorable run in IPL 2023, starting on March 31.

RCB Complete Squad for IPL 2023

Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammad Siraj, Faf Du Plessis (c), Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik, Shahbaz Ahemad, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Josh Hazlewood, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Suyash Prabhudessai, Karn Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, David Willey, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Will Jacks, Manoj Bhandage, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Sonu Yadav