Fifty shades of Glenn; Bangalore's de jure henchman

Glenn James Maxwell. 

Madman? Freak? Big Show?

What’s the first thing that comes to mind? Overrated, no?

But is he?

You either have it, or you don’t. As simple as that? No. Does hard work beat talent? Most of the days. But on some days, talent is magic. Talent is wizardry. Talent makes you go ‘woah’. 

But is excellence about talent? Does excellence fear failure? We probably should not be talking about it right now.

Why? Excellence is an entirely different chapter.

The world tends to assume that when someone is good, like really bloody good, it is because they have a gift for it, or a blessing, in a way assuming their madness was just given to them beyond any reason or elucidation. 

Assumptions can go horribly wrong? Probably yes. 

Coming back to Maxwell, we’ve seen the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful. We’ve seen him shouldering arms and getting knocked off by Ryan Duffield in Brisbane, and we’ve also seen him ‘cut-swat’ Avesh Khan over deep point in Bangalore. 

Maxwell, 34, has already raised quite a lot of eyebrows after throwing away wickets for fun, reverse sweeping one from leg stump and picking the fielder at short covers off a half-tracker. Uncanny? Well, he is. 

Maxy suddenly goes from a bloke who’s got incredible amount of talent and ridiculous potential to talk of the town. We see Instagram stories, reels, posts and whatnot? We see Maxwell trending on Twitter for all the wrong reasons and experienced coaches telling young aspiring cricketers not to pick a shot from Maxwell’s book of tricks. 

Too harsh? Arguably.

But that’s how the world works, yeah? It ain’t fair. And who’s more used to it than us? Glenn Maxwell, Of course. 

But you know what? The Big Show has another side. Another chapter. The bright side. The beautiful one. The one that wears red and black. And the one that has Bangalore on his chest.  And the world just got a glimpse of the other side on Monday, April 10, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.  

Coming into the Lucknow game, Maxwell had 17 runs in two innings at an average of 17. Before he got to bat, Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis put on a show and dropped a few jaws with how Kohli used his wrists on a slightly dry but batting-friendly Chinnaswamy surface. 

Maxwell is known for his maniac, monster-ish approach but did not bring it to the fore from the get-go as he just sliced a loopy delivery off Amit Mishra to start his engine. Better late than never? Well, Maxwell absolutely crushed Mishra and launched one over the ropes. It was the freak the world knew, did not middle it, but it flew like a tracer bullet. 

They say you don’t toss it up to Maxwell. But are you brave enough to outsmart him? With risk comes reward, yeah? But if it is the madman’s day, you are going to pay, and Ravi Bishnoi was at the receiving end. 

Is it obvious for Maxwell to bat like that? Length ball at around 138 clicks, six over the deep square with a fine leg slightly squarer and a deep square leg on the boundary. You might wonder why is he playing that shot with so much risk involved? He does what he wants because he is Glenn Maxwell. 

Trying to stay still, keeping his shape and playing orthodox cricketing strokes? Nah, not his thing. But what is? Hit the toe-end of the bat, and slash it wide for four. Maxwell’s in the zone.

The stage seemed to be set. Under the Bengaluru sky. Monday night under the Chinnaswamy lights was the place to be. 

18 overs, RCB 183/1. Maxwell batting on 40* from 22. Avesh to bowl the penultimate over. Maxwell takes charge, he goes straight, and he goes six. Is Kookaburra just a sticker on his wood? Maybe a wand.

Well, the freak pulls one out of his hat. Something outwardly, inhuman? Ah, maybe a little hype and a bit of bias, but how many could pull that off—six over deep point with a shot we can’t even name. Maxwell gets to his fifty off 24 balls. Chinnaswamy goes berserk. 

Well, if around 1.8 Cr are watching it on an online platform, just imagine. 

Criticism is easy, always has been. But success? It never was and never will be. There are not many things in the world that can match the adrenaline rush than watching Maxwell bat. If you ever get a chance to watch it live? Worth every penny you pay. 

Well, regardless of what Glenn Maxwell does, whether you like the bloke applying himself to use his talent or not like him for not meeting his potential, he is Mr Box Office indeed.