"The question arises, as professional players, how many matches can you flop?" - RP Singh on Glenn Maxwell's poor start to IPL 2022 for RCB

Glenn Maxwell was dismissed for a first-ball duck in Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) defeat to Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the MCA Stadium in Pune. Former Indian pacer RP Singh spoke about the all-rounder's patchy start in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022.

Maxwell was a late addition to the RCB squad in the ongoing tournament. He opted out of Australia's white-ball leg of the Pakistan tour as well as the first few matches of IPL 2022 to get married. Since his arrival, he has replaced Sherfane Rutherford in the playing XI and scored 124 runs in six matches at a strike rate of 177.

Highlighting Maxwell's previous poor IPL campaigns and his well-documented inconsistency, RP Singh said on Cricbuzz:

"It seemed after the previous IPL that Maxwell finally got a team culture and atmosphere where he would succeed. Now the question arises, as professional players, how many matches can you flop? Maxwell is a great player, but the tournament will just pass by if this goes on."

The Australian played a crucial role in RCB's playoff qualification in IPL 2021. On the back of his stellar season, he was retained by the franchise ahead of the mega-auction.

RCB lost the trio of Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis and Maxwell in quick succession while chasing a tricky 145 runs for victory on Tuesday. The three-time finalists were never in the chase as they lost wickets at regular intervals.

Lamenting the lack of partnerships in RCB's chasing efforts, RP Singh said:

"We have seen that teams have gone on to score 200 even if they are scoring run a ball in the powerplay with their wickets intact. Here, Kohli, Faf and Maxwell fell quickly, that should not have happened. There were no batters who thought of staying at the crease even if it meant that only 40 runs came off the next 50 balls. They have to discuss how to approach the target."

The Faf du Plessis-led side stuttered to 115 all out to mark their second consecutive defeat. Kuldeep Sen was the pick of the bowlers with a four-wicket haul after coming back into the side.

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"Buttler did not score runs while Chahal did not take any wickets, this will hurt RCB" - Parthiv Patel

RR found themselves in trouble in the first innings after being reduced to 33-3 in the powerplay. Jos Buttler could not add much to his run tally at the top of the IPL Orange Cap 2022 race with just eight runs. In the second innings, despite a solid spell, Yuzvendra Chahal failed to take a wicket.

Claiming that RCB would be gutted to lose despite handling Buttler and Chahal, Parthiv Patel said:

"Buttler did not score runs while Chahal did not take any wickets, this will hurt RCB, but this will please RR more. They scored 144 without Buttler and while Chahal bowled well he was not among the wickets. They also have another player in form now. There were questions over Parag's place in the team and his role, but he showed what he is capable of."

The Faf du Plessis led side will next face Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on April 30 (Saturday).