Glenn Maxwell, is there any player who’s more mercurial than him? He’ll hit a double hundred when the team’s 91/7 while chasing 292 but then sky one up when you need just 8 runs per over. That’s exactly why he’s earned at least Rs 9 crore in every Indian Premier League (IPL) season from 2018 onwards. Considering what he offered with the bat, combined with his brilliance in the field and some handy off-spin, it seems worthy.
RCB lets Glenn Maxwell go
That was the case until this year. At the IPL 2025 auction, all Maxwell could get was Rs 4.20 crore. This was despite three teams (Chennai Super Kings, Punjab Kings, and Sunrisers Hyderabad) showing interest in him. Surprisingly, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) didn’t bid for him even once, and when the opportunity came to use a Right to Match (RTM) card for him, they chose not to use it either.
From what it seemed, RCB could have gotten him for Rs 5 crore with two more bids. But they didn’t do it. They had 22 players to secure and Rs 83 crore to spend at the auction. They could have spent about 6% of their purse on Glenn Maxwell. They chose not to do that, and it cost them dearly.
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RCB’s middle-order hole
On the first glance at RCB’s squad for the IPL 2025 season, you’ll see they have great top and lower order. Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, and Phil Salt can win your match if they fire up top. While chasing, you can depend upon finishers like Liam Livingston, Tim David, and Jitesh Sharma. Their bowling, which has been their kryptonite, looks settled with Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Rasikh Salam Dar. They also have two promising talents, Jacob Bethell and Devdutt Padikkal.
But there is a big hole. That’s their middle order. Maxwell, who played for them there, wasn’t just their best batter but perhaps the whole league’s. In his four seasons with RCB, he hit a fifty in every fourth match and struck at nearly 160. He found consistency like he had never before. Unfortunately, his last season tanked his reputation.
He had over 1200 runs in his first three seasons but just 52 runs in 10 matches this year. Therefore, RCB didn’t go after him at the auction. They choose to spend Rs 2.60 crore on Bethell, who, despite his immense talent, is unproved. The last thing they want is to build a great bowling attack but fall short of winning due to their batting, which has always carried them.
Glenn Maxwell’s record for RCB
| Span | Matches | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | 100s & 50s |
| 2021-2024 | 52 | 1266 | 28.77 | 159.24 | 0 & 12 |
Early wickets, and they stand at the risk of losing before the powerplay itself. You can’t expect Livingstone, Jitesh, or David to win your matches by batting throughout the middle and death overs. Padikkal, who some might think is a suitable option for number four, averages 25 while striking at 123 in IPL. That too after 64 matches.
RCB squad for IPL 2025
Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Yash Dayal, Liam Livingstone✈️, Phil Salt✈️, Jitesh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood✈️, Rasikh Dar Salam, Suyash Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Swapnil Singh, Tim David✈️, Romario Shepherd✈️, Nuwan Thushara✈️, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell✈️, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chhikara, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh, Mohit Rathee
