Had Glenn Maxwell done really well, he wouldn't have played for so many franchises: Gautam Gambhir

With Glenn Maxwell gearing up to represent yet another franchise in the IPL, former India opener Gautam Gambhir has opined that the Australian’s inconsistency is the reason behind him playing for several teams. Maxwell will ply his trade for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the upcoming edition of the IPL.

It will be his fourth IPL franchise since he made his debut in the tournament in 2012. His journey started with Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals). He scored 6 runs in 2 games for the franchise before being signed up by Mumbai Indians in 2013. For Mumbai, Maxwell scored 36 runs in 3 games before being released.

In 2014, Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) secured his services and Maxwell enjoyed his most prolific season to date. He scored 552 runs and helped the team make it to the final for the first time. But since then, Maxwell has failed to do well. He stayed with Punjab till 2017 before the franchise parted ways with him.

In 2018, Delhi Capitals once again signed him but released him after just one season following his poor returns with the bat. In 2020, Punjab Kings also re-signed him but the decision backfired. Maxwell endured his worst season in an IPL as he scored only 108 runs in 13 games. The hard-hitting batsman could not hit a single six during the entire competition.

Glenn Maxwell not been consistent at all: Gambhir

RCB is the latest team to try their fortunes with Maxwell. And while only time will tell how the deal pans out, Gautam Gambhir has criticized Maxwell’s performance in IPL over the years. Gambhir also pointed out that Maxwell had the luxury of batting with freedom but he could not deliver. To prove his point, Gambhir provided the example of Andre Russell who has been with the Kolkata Knight Riders since 2014.

“Had Maxwell done really well in the IPL, he wouldn’t have played for so many franchises, to be honest. He’s played for so many franchises because he’s not been consistent at all. We can’t keep talking about ‘he hasn’t had the freedom’ for the previous franchises he’s played for… when he played for Delhi, he had a lot of freedom,” Gautam Gambhir told ESPNcricinfo.

“Most of these franchises and coaches – because they think he’s an X-factor – they want to try and provide him with the best platform where he can succeed. The most unfortunate thing is that despite getting that platform, he has not succeeded, apart from that one season in 2014 where he set the IPL on fire. Had he done that, I think none of the franchises would have released him. Look at what Andre Russell has done for KKR and the amount of time he’s spent at one franchise,” added the former KKR skipper.