It became a two-way battle between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore. But in the end, the Virat Kohli-led RCB roped in the seasoned Glenn Maxwell for a whopping Rs 14.25 crore in the IPL 2021 Auction on Thursday.
While there was some intense bidding - with the figures soaring far higher than his base price of Rs 2 crore - RCB was determined to get Maxwell on board for his ‘X-factor’. Aware of the fact that he had an abysmal season with Punjab Kings last year - where he scored only 108 runs in 13 outings - despite being bought for Rs 10.75 crore, RCB went big on the seasoned campaigner.
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Maxwell sold to RCB for Rs 14.25 crore
“It very much depends on what role each team wants him to play, often he has been used in finisher’s role, and obviously he is a multi-skilled player, he is good to field and bowl off-spin, so it just depends on what team wants, we all know how good a touch he is away from IPL,” RCB’s director of cricket operations, Mike Hesson, said.
“We will look at how we will best use him. Obviously, help AB (de Villiers) out and provide extra bit of power in the middle there, and we have got other players line up to do the job, so we (went) after that X-factor player through the middle, and we found that in Glenn Maxwell, so we are delighted,” Hesson said.
READ: Chennai Super Kings signs Moeen Ali for Rs 7 crore
Why did CSK go for Moeen Ali?
While RCB roped in Maxwell, England all-rounder Moeen Ali, too, attracted the franchises with Chennai Super Kings roping him for Rs 7 crore. And the team’s bowling coach, L. Balaji explained the reason behind picking Ali. “Watson was giving us that flexibility in top order and now if you compare the last three seasons, Moeen, I always feel can contribute both with the ball and bat. So, Moeen definitely gives the depth and option of dual role, when you look at the selection process, I am 100 per cent sure, Moeen will fill in what we are looking at when it comes to top order as well as spin departments.”
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