Virender Sehwag has once again criticised Glenn Maxwell’s attitude in the Indian Premier League suggesting that he doesn’t take the tournament as seriously as he takes international cricket.
Maxwell has been in fine form for Australia in the recently concluded ODI and T20I series scoring three half-centuries and helping the hosts win the series in the 50-over format.
This recent improvement in form is a huge contrast to his IPL form where managed just 108 runs in 13 matches, making it his worst return in an IPL season (apart from 2012 and 2013 where he played just two and three matches respectively). Maxwell also did not hit a single six in the tournament.
Sehwag who earlier had called the Australian a ‘10 crore-cheerleader’ has once again laid into the all-rounder.
“He (Maxwell) doesn’t take pressure at all in IPL. He is there only for enjoyment. He will do everything in the match – encourage players, roam around, dance – other than scoring runs. As soon as the match is over, if he is getting free drinks he will take that to his room or go to the room and have a lot of drinks,” Sehwag said while speaking to the Sony Network.
“So, I never felt that he is that serious about the game. When he comes to the IPL, he is more serious about his golf than cricket. Because if you are that serious, the performance shows,” he added.
Maxwell had responded to Sehwag’s initial criticism before the India series suggesting that the former Indian batsman is there in the media for making such statements.
But Sehwag continued to criticise the Australian all-rounder.
“His attitude changes when he plays for Australia. When he goes to Australia, he knows that if he has two or three bad innings, he will be left out of the Australian team and it will be difficult to make a comeback,” Sehwag said.
Maxwell has not been included in Australia’s Test squad for the four-match series that begins in Adelaide on December 17.