STRUGGLING FOR FORM, RCB ALL-ROUNDER GLENN MAXWELL TAKES A BREAK FROM IPL 2024

NEW DELHI: Going through a poor run of form, star Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell late on Monday revealed that he has taken a break from the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League.

Maxwell's revelation came during the post-match press conference after Royal Challengers Bengaluru's fifth straight defeat of the season.

The all-rounder, who had just 32 runs in the six games for RCB this season, sat out of the clash against Sunrisers at the Chinnaswamy, where a record-shattering 549 runs were scored in two innings combined.

Chasing an improbable 288 for a much-needed win, RCB finished at 262 for 7 for their sixth defeat of the season.

After the game, Maxwell admitted that he has been struggling and it was better for him to take a break and refresh himself 'physically and mentally'.

"For me, personally, it was a pretty easy decision," Maxwell said after RCB's sixth defeat in seven matches.

"I went to Faf [du Plessis] and the coaches after the last game and said I felt it was probably time we tried someone else. I have been in this situation in the past where you can keep playing and get yourself deeper into a hole. I think now is actually a good time for me to give myself a bit of a mental and physical break, get my body right. 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 still have an impact.

"We have had a pretty big deficiency straight after the powerplay, which has been my area of strength over the last couple of seasons. I felt like I wasn't contributing in a positive way with the bat, and with the results and the position we find ourselves on the table, I think it's a good time to give someone else an opportunity to show their wares, and hopefully, someone can make that spot their own," Maxwell said.

"T20 cricket can be like that sometimes - it's a pretty fickle game," he said. "Even if you look at the first game, I ran one off the middle of the bat to the keeper. I picked up the length really well, saw a scoring opportunity, but opened the face a little bit too much. When you are going well, that goes wide of the gloves, you get a boundary, you are 4 off 1, and you are away for the tournament.

"I probably just haven't got 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 and when it snowballs like that, you can go searching and try too hard and forget the basics of the game," he added.

Earlier, legendary Sunil Gavaskar had also slammed Maxwell for his poor show in this edition of the IPL, pointing out he has been unable to play fast bowling.

"He has been unable to play fast bowling, period," former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar had told Star Sports

"Balls bouncing to his chest or shoulder height are troubling him. He can whack every ball below his waist height, but not the ones above that," Gavaskar added.