RCB gamble big on 'Big Show'

Despite his poor IPL returns, Royal Challengers Bangalore feel Glenn Maxwell can be the 'X-factor' and splurged Rs 14.25 crore on the hard-hitting Australian batsman

When the Royal Challengers Bangalore and arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings waged an intense battle for Glenn Maxwell, an explosive batsman with a long history of implosions, the general mood on social media was astonishment. And when the Royal Challengers locked in the maverick Australian for a massive Rs 14.25 crore, many wondered why they would splurge so much on a player who averages a mere 22.13 with 6 fifties in 82 IPL games.

In fact Maxwell, nicknamed the Big Show, has been such a big letdown in the most glittering T20 league that, barring the 2014 season where he played a pivotal role in Kings XI Punjab (now called Punjab Kings) reaching the final by amassing 552 runs, he’s barely looked his destructive self. It’s been failures after failures which forced Punjab to release him prior to this year’s auction.

It’s safe to say that the Royal Challengers, desperate to win a maiden IPL trophy, have taken a massive gamble in Maxwell and they’ll be hoping the 32-year-old helps them land the jackpot this summer. There are reasons why RCB decided to go all-out for Maxwell. Not only does he add solid firepower to a brittle middle-order but Maxwell can even bat up the order. He’s also a good off-spinner with the courage to bowl in the Powerplay and an excellent fielder, a trait which skipper Virat Kohli loves.

Over the years, one of the areas where RCB have struggled is acceleration towards the end. Batting has been heavily dependent on Kohli and AB de Villiers and with very few big-hitters in the middle-order, they've consistently struggled to impose themselves. Last year too they got off to good starts in most games but just couldn’t step on the gas towards the closing stages.

RCB’s Director of Cricket Mike Hesson felt Maxwell is the X-factor they were looking for. “He's a multi-skilled player, he's good in the field and is able to bowl off-spin, so just depends on what teams want. We all know what a good touch he is in away from the IPL. Only a couple of years ago in 2017 he was used slightly higher up the order and had his best IPL, so we'll look at how best we use him... help AB out and provide an extra bit of power through the middle there. We've obviously got other players in our line-up to do other jobs, so we were after that X-factor player through the middle and we've found that in Glenn Maxwell, so we're delighted.”

Teams generally look to plug holes during these mini auctions and one area of concern for RCB was death bowling. They broke the bank to address their long-standing Achilles Heel, spending a jaw-dropping Rs 15 crore for Kyle Jamieson. Standing 6’8’’, Jamieson is the tallest fast bowler in the world now and considered a great prospect back home in New Zealand. Not only does Jamieson extract steep bounce from good length owing to his towering frame but he’s got a wicked fuller ball too. The 26-year-old made his international debut only last year but his first-class statistics are quite decent. Jamieson can also be dangerous with the bat, capable of getting those quickfire 20s and 30s.

The Royal Challengers also roped in all-rounder Dan Christian for Rs 4.80 crore. The Australian was not part of the last two IPLs and hasn’t played international cricket since the T20I against India at Ranchi in 2017 but the Challengers signed him as a cover-up considering how long the IPL is.

Having gone big on three internationals, the Royal Challengers didn’t have much money left to buy domestic players. They picked up Sachin Baby, Rajat Patidar, Suyash Prabhudesai, KS Bharat and Mohammed Azharuddeen for their respective base prices of Rs 20 lakh. Kerala wicketkeeper-batsman Azharudeen smashed the second fastest century in the recently held Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy against Mumbai and is the perfect replacement for the now retired Parthiv Patel.

In the end, they seemed content with their buys. It all depends on whether this personnel can deliver.