There was a shock in store for Kings XI Punjab fans on Monday when the team lists were flashed out – Glenn Maxwell would not play against Royal Challengers Bangalore, making way for South Africa’s Farhaan Behardien. KXIP would agonisingly lose the match by 1 run, as Maxwell’s absence was sorely felt.
There have been many speculations as to why the Australian all-rounder was missing in action. With no official report forthcoming on his absence, there were many speculations, with the most common reaction being dumbfoundedness.
Maxwell, like the rest of his KXIP teammates, has not enjoyed the best of times in IPL 9, but was coming into good touch, as evinced from his 68 against KKR earlier this month. Despite there having been early calls for his head in the initial stages of the season, the potentially lethal cricketer, who looks capable of winning matches before breakfast, has since then given a much better account of himself.
Some reactions to his exclusion:
However, as can be seen from later developments, Maxwell was being rested for the RCB game, and not benched. The Australian himself sent out a tweet, praising the team for the appetite for fight shown by them in defeat. He also said that he hoped he would recover from the injury in time to play in the next match.
Maxwell’s teammate Marcus Stoinis was fleetingly asked during the match about Maxwell’s situation, to which he said, “Yeah, he’s got a minor strain, he’s injured at the moment. But we’re hoping to have him back as soon as possible, hopefully next game.”
Maxwell had suffered an injury scare earlier on in the season as well, after having been hit on the hand during a practice session. It is not thought to be an eventuality at this stage that Maxwell is to join the long list of Australians who have pulled out of the tournament with injuries.
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