The full on IPL pre-season schedule that Glenn Maxwell says drained him before the first game

With a T20 World Cup around the corner, Glenn Maxwell’s form deserted him at the IPL. The Australian star explains where things went wrong for him in the lead-up to the tournament.

A candid Glenn Maxwell has attributed his Indian Premier League malaise in part to overwhelming pre-tournament promotional commitments.

But the white-ball icon insists he will be right to perform come next month’s Twenty20 World Cup, where Australia will look to become the first international side to hold global titles across all three formats simultaneously.

Having played a central part in the Aussies’ one-day World Cup win last year, Maxwell has endured a staggeringly poor run for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru across the past couple of months.

He ended the regular season with just 52 runs at an average of 6.50 and strike rate of 123.80, dropping himself midway through the season before returning in recent games.

Glenn Maxwell dropped himself mid-season after a poor run for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL. Picture: Idrees Mohammed/AFP

The Victorian has at least contributed steadily with the ball, taking six wickets at 21.50 and an economy rate of 8.06.

Describing his season as “frustrating,” Maxwell, 35, said his on-field preparation for the tournament had been suboptimal.

“I felt like I’d done a lot of things right sort of leading up to the tournament,” Maxwell said earlier this month in a Zoom meeting for members of his Catch Max fan club.

“I came really early to get enough practice in. And one thing about the IPL, that you probably don’t think about is all the other stuff that you have to do around actually just playing and training and getting yourself right.

“The filming, the ads, and all that sort of stuff takes up so much time and so much energy that I was sort of almost drained, I reckon, before game one. I probably had about four full days of filming leading into the first couple of games, and just found like I wasn’t able to probably get the same sort of match practice I was able to get in last time.

“And even though I still felt like I was in good form and in a good head space, I probably just came in a little bit short of what I thought I was gonna have before that first game.

Despite being frustrated with his form, Glenn Maxwell has been effective with the ball. Picture: Punit PARANJPE / AFP

“So it’s a bit frustrating to look back on now, but felt like I was still in good form, and unfortunately just wasn’t able to get started, and it can be a tough place to try and find your form back in T20 cricket. You find you’re always trying to do different things or new things to sort of turn your form around and just found like I wasn’t quite able to do that.”

All is not lost though. Maxwell made 16 from five balls against Chennai over the weekend as RCB - bottom of the IPL table after losing seven of its first eight games - capped a remarkable turnaround around to qualify for the playoffs. RCB faces Rajasthan in a knockout final in the early hours of Thursday morning.

From there it will be off to the Carribbean for Maxwell ahead of a tournament beginning on June 2.

“I suppose the good thing about how much cricket is on these days is. There’s always something around the corner to look forward to, and even though this season of IPL hasn’t gone away, I still feel like once the World Cup comes around I’ll be ready to go. My international form has been really good over the last suppose six to 12 months, and feel like I’m in a good space to hit that tournament full steam.”

Maxwell also addressed the glut of attention he tends to receive in India, saying that he wanted to provide safe opportunities for fans to get close to him.

“When people approach you sometimes it can be quite daunting and aggressive. I find that’s been quite scary at times, and I think when you see the security see something happen and they rush over, and all of a sudden it becomes a big thing.

“And what I’d love to be able to do is, I think, especially at games of cricket, I’d love be able to go around, see the fans and try and give them something.

“In Dharamsala (during the IPL) I was actually able spend a bit of time sort of walking around talking to the fans on the boundary and threw out a few pairs of gloves and a couple of shirts, and felt like I had some really nice interactions.”

Originally published as The full on IPL pre-season schedule that Glenn Maxwell says drained him before the first game