Glenn Maxwell seemed much more comfortable in the middle when he came out to bat for his new franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2021 season opener against Mumbai Indians on Friday. Finding sweet connection and good timing, Maxwell provided the stability that RCB needed in the middle overs while chasing MI’s target of 160. The Aussie batsman along with skipper Virat Kohli gave RCB the edge they needed over MI in their first clash of the season before “Mr 360” AB de Villiers stepped in and took the game away from Rohit Sharma’s team, only for the tail to drag their team home.
Maxwell’s 39 off 28 deliveries gave the indication that he had gotten his mojo back, something that was missing in the previous season of cricket carnival. In fact, Maxwell could only manage 108 runs in 13 matches while playing for Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in IPL 2020 where he was picked up by the franchise for over 10 crores, a fact that was brought up every single time the Aussie failed while batting for KXIP.
The power-hitter was subsequently bought by RCB for this season for a whopping Rs 14.25 crore, something that was widely discussed among cricket fans recently during IPL auctions.
Is the OG Maxwell back? Fans were quick to imagine franchise owner Preity Zinta’s reaction upon seeing the former KXIP cricketer Maxwell perform well for the new team.
Preity Zinta watching Maxwell's batting pic.twitter.com/jFLD4wSQIn— Rajabets (@RajaBets) April 9, 2021
Maxwell got more sixes today than he had in Last two seasons…Preity Zinta reaction after watching this ❤️#Maxwell #PreityZinta #WeAreChallengers pic.twitter.com/yHrrnUzoKH— Anjali Sharma (@Anj_18_sharma) April 9, 2021
Preity Zinta watching Maxwell in this match pic.twitter.com/IlG8GZaRZi— ⭐ (@0creativitigang) April 9, 2021
Preityzinta watching Maxwell innings pic.twitter.com/6QboWxfIhh— Telugu Sarcasm (@TeluguSarcasm) April 9, 2021
Glenn Maxwell to preity zinta.. #MIvsRCB #ipl2021 pic.twitter.com/bPGgDO1xuf— Amit Sharma-CSK(DOGRA) (@Amit_Sharma_7) April 9, 2021
Preity Zinta after seeing Galen Maxwell 's Quick-witted batting in the match #RCBvsMI pic.twitter.com/2mNzcJHgWM— ️ (@Er_jaSsHbharti) April 9, 2021
#MIvRCB #RCBvMI #IPL2021 Preity Zinta waiting for #Maxwell outside stadium . pic.twitter.com/9uFzIQfnh1
— OGGII (@oggiiduck) April 9, 2021
Maxwell didint hit a single six in IPL 2020 after facing 106 balls and he hit first six in IPL 2021 in the 16th ball.— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 9, 2021
*Preity Zinta to Maxwell after watching his Performance in RCB team*#RCBvsMI #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/v0IrKoM4AH— Tweetera (@DoctorrSays) April 9, 2021
Preity Zinta after watching Maxwell performance. pic.twitter.com/KZXHGkh8Rw— Amit Jr Mushahary (@JrMushahary) April 9, 2021
#IPL2021 #RCBvsMI Preity Zinta watching Maxwell hitting huge sixes for RCB: pic.twitter.com/DK7HUj6HGK
— Rajneesh Chaudhary (@Rajneesh1609) April 9, 2021
Meanwhile Preity Zinta watching Maxwell bat : #Maxwell #PreityZinta pic.twitter.com/Q9oXDfyLwn— Aditya Mohan (@AdityaMohan175) April 9, 2021
Meanwhile, five-time champions Mumbai Indians just couldn’t get it right when it comes to starts. With their 9th straight loss in season openers, Mumbai Indians have started yet another IPL campaign with an L to their name with a narrow two-wicket loss at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore at Chennai in the 1st match of IPL 2021 on Friday.
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