Glenn Maxwell is on a 'physical and mental break' from the Indian Premier League (IPL). After his last match for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (April 11 against Mumbai Indians), the Australian all-rounder sought out Faf du Plessis and the coaches to let them know about his feelings.
"I went to Faf and the coaches after the last game and said I felt it was probably time we tried someone else," he said during the post-match press conference after the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday.
"I have been in this situation in the past where you can keep playing and get yourself deeper in a hole."
Maxwell hasn't been himself the entirety of this campaign. His 32 runs across six games had left him in a bad spot. "We have had a pretty big deficiency straight after the powerplay, which has been my area of strength over the last couple of seasons," he said. "I felt like I wasn't contributing in a positive way with the bat, and with the results and the position we find ourselves, I think it's a good time to give someone else an opportunity."
As of now, Maxwell will stay with the team. "If I'm required to get in during the tournament, I can hopefully get back into a really solid mental and physical space where I can have an impact."
When the season began, the 35-year-old was in the middle of a purple patch. Yet, in the season opener at Chennai, he was removed for a first-baller. "T20 cricket can be like that sometimes," he said on how his indifferent campaign so far. "It's a pretty fickle game. If you look at the first game, I ran one off the middle to the keeper. I picked up the length well, saw a scoring opportunity, but opened the face a little too much.
"I probably just haven't gotten away, it's as simple as that. In the first few games, I feel I made reasonably good decisions but I was still finding ways to get out. It can happen in T20 cricket."
While sitting on the bench for the game against Hyderabad, he had quickly realised that this wasn't going to be like one of the other surfaces the venue had doled out. But Maxwell reiterated the struggles of an athlete. "I realised it was a bad game to miss. It would have been nice to be out there batting.
"But I wanted to give myself not just the physical break but also the mental break to give myself the right to play professional cricket. I take a lot of pride in my performances and I put in a lot of hard work behind the scenes to get my body right for every game. It has been a pretty tough struggle, given my body is on the right side of 30. I think that the physical and mental toll just wore me down a little bit."
Maxwell opts to take a 'physical and mental break from IPL