Ahead of the mega auction of IPL 2022, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) retained Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, and Mohammed Siraj. However, none of the retentions yielded good results for the franchise, as all the three players failed to perform as per expectations during the season.
Of all the three retentions that RCB decided to go with, Kohli’s retention was quite obvious. The call of retaining Mohammed Siraj was understandable too, considering his performance over the last couple of years. However, the decision of retaining Australian power-hitter Glenn Maxwell took the former RCB wicketkeeper-batter, Parthiv Patel, by surprise.
Maxwell had a great season in IPL 2021, with 513 runs in 14 innings in his kitty. Keeping in mind his performance in the season, RCB decided to retain him for a hefty price of Rs. 11 crores. However, the explosive batter failed to put up as good a show this season, scoring only 301 runs in 13 innings, with one half-century, though he also took 6 wickets with the ball.
While speaking in a discussion on Cricbuzz, Parthiv said, "I was surprised to see RCB retain Glenn Maxwell on the basis of one good season. He has been inconsistent with his performances. He scores big runs after every five seasons. He has been consistent with his inconsistency. RCB expected him to perform like he did last year, but that didn't happen."
Expressing his views on the matter, former India cricketer Virender Sehwag said that RCB opted to retain the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj because they expected them to get costlier at the mega auction.
Parthiv also added that if RCB decided to let go of these two players ahead of the next edition of the Indian Premier League, they wouldn't get as much money as they were getting from the three-time finalists, RCB.
"Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj are two players who have had a terrible season. The franchise chose to retain them as they thought they would have gone for a lot of money at the auction. But even if they release them now, they will still fetch lesser amounts than what RCB are paying them currently," he said.
(Cricbuzz inputs)
