Three teams that can pick Maxwell for IPL 2019

Glenn Maxwell, one of the most destructive batsmen in world cricket, has been consistently underperforming for the past two years. It is quite surprising to see someone who can turn the game on its head within no time, struggling this hard to get into the groove. His poor run of form has resulted in his exclusion from the national team and now his IPL 11 franchise has released him ahead of the upcoming IPL season.

The Aussie all-rounder was drafted in by Delhi Daredevils for a whopping sum of Rs 9 Crores during the IPL 2018 Auction. The 30-year-old was expected to set the stage on fire, but Maxwell failed to repay the faith Delhi had him by scoring a mere total of 169 runs at an under par average of 14.08 in 12 innings.

Immensely disappointed by his poor returns in the last IPL, Delhi Daredevils have taken a huge decision to release him ahead of the 2019 IPL Auction. Now with most of the teams looking almost settled, it will be fascinating to see which franchise will try to pick Maxwell in the auction. So, let us now take a look at three such teams who can pick the big-hitting all-rounder when he goes into the 2019 Auction.

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#3 Kolkata Knight Riders

Despite releasing Gautam Gambhir ahead of the 2018 Auction, the Dinesh Karthik-led team did extremely well to reach the playoffs. But the one issue that haunted the KKR last season was the injury scare of Andre Russell. With their premier all-rounder being injury prone, KKR will look to find a player like Maxwell who can up the ante at will. Maxwell is also more than handy with his off-spin, which will help KKR when their regular bowlers leak runs and can also be used as a pinch-hitter.

He has already shown that he can also open the innings. With Sunil Narine not being that good with the bat these days, Maxwell can be used as an opening partner alongside Chris Lynn. It will be interesting to see if KKR goes for Maxwell in the upcoming auction.

#2 Kings XI Punjab

Maxwell could go back to his former team

Glenn Maxwell was the primary force behind Kings XI Punjab's most successful IPL season, in 2014. With his exceptional performance, Maxwell took KXIP to the finals of that season. The dashing batsman piled up a huge total of 552 runs in at an average of 34.50 in 16 matches. After setting the stage on fire in 2014, the Aussie all-rounder could not quite repeat the same in the following seasons which resulted in KXIP releasing him ahead of 2018 auction.

The Ravichandran Ashwin-led team has struggled in middle-order last season with the likes of Mayank Agarwal, Yuvraj Singh and Aaron Finch not living up to the expectations. They desperately need someone who can consolidate on the good opening stands and can take the also act as a finisher.

With David Miller not being that consistent, the inclusion of Maxwell will surely strengthen KXIP's batting. If he gets back to his 2014 form, the decision will turn out to be a coup de maitre for Punjab.

#1 Delhi Daredevils

Maxwell is likely to be in big demand

It is surprising but it could well be a great move from the Delhi based franchise to buy Maxwell. As they had invested a whopping sum of Rs. 9 Crores on the 30-year-old, they might now think of getting him back probably at a considerably lower price. There is a high probability that many teams may not bid for the Aussie and he could well be available taking at around his base price or at Rs. 3 to 4 crores.

As Delhi can still draft in three overseas players in their line-up and with almost all the key players being retained, they might try and get the proven players from the available list.

Also, the destructive batsman must have been hurt with his exclusion from the squad and will definitely try to prove a point in the coming season. And with a World Cup spot still in his reach, Maxwell will try to hit good form in the next season.