Australia’s explosive batsman Glenn Maxwell will be seen playing for King XI Punjab (KXIP) once again after he was bought by the franchise for a staggering sum of Rs 10.75 Cr in the IPL 2020 auction. The IPL 13 will be played in the UAE in its entirety from September 19 to November 10 this season.
This will be good news for both KXIP and Maxwell, given that the last time IPL was played in UAE in 2014, the franchise was unbeaten in the first half of the season and Maxwell slammed 552 runs at a strike rate of 187.75, leading the team to the finals.
Ahead of the upcoming season, Maxwell sat down with renowned commentator Harsha Bhogle in a Cricbuzz chat show and picked his best IPL XI.
"I would love to be available for it," Glenn Maxwell looking forward to IPL 2020
Maxwell chose Australian teammate and 2016 IPL winner David Warner and RCB captain Virat Kohli as the openers of his IPL XI. Warner has been in amazing form in IPL, winning the Orange Cap in 2017 and 2019. Kohli, on the other hand, is the highest all-time run-getter in the IPL with 5412 runs in 177 matches.
He then picked AB de Villiers, Suresh Raina, and himself for the middle order of the XI. Andre Russell and MS Dhoni were named as the finishers for this XI. De Villiers and Raina have been the go-to batsmen for the respective franchises. Russell demonstrated his hitting abilities in IPL 2019 where he scored over 500 runs at a strike rate of almost 190.
MS Dhoni is one of the highest run-getters in all IPL and a selected few to hit over 200 sixes in the tournament. He has also led CSK to three IPL titles.
He picked Harbhajan Singh as the lone spinner in his side, however, the surprise pick from Maxwell came when he picked his former KXIP teammate Mohit Sharma as one of the frontline fast bowlers along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah.
Maxwell spent two seasons alongside Mohit Sharma in KXIP - 2016 and 2017 - and, ahead of IPL 2020, the former CSK and KXIP seamer was purchased by Delhi Capitals.
Maxwell did not name a captain for his side.
Glenn Maxwell’s Best IPL XI:
David Warner, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Suresh Raina, Glenn Maxwell, Andre Russell, MS Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Mohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah
