Why making Glenn Maxwell the skipper of Kings XI Punjab might backfire

The 10th edition of the prestigious Indian Premier League has witnessed several twists and turns even before the start. The latest happening that made the headlines is the appointment of Glenn Maxwell as the captain of Kings XI Punjab who will take over the reign from Murali Vijay.

The Australian will be in charge of the side that finished last on the points table in the last season. They were at the bottom of the points table in the 2016 edition as well. Hence there lies a huge amount of responsibility on the shoulders of Maxwell to revive the fortunes of the team.

He might be one of the most explosive batsmen in the world but to name him the skipper of the Punjab team could well kick the franchise on the back.

Here are the possible reasons why Maxwell being the skipper might not be the best decision.

Poor form in the IPL

The 28-year-old joined the Punjab side in the 2014 edition and enjoyed a wonderful run, scoring 552 runs at an average of 34.5 and a tremendous strike rate of 187.75. As a result, his team achieved pole position on the points table and were the runners up in the final after losing to Kolkata Knight Riders.

But following two seasons have been nothing short of a nightmare for him as he managed to score just 145 and 179 runs. With the ball too, he failed to contribute a lot and has just 2 wickets to show in the course of 22 matches. So his confidence might not be sky high and the last thing that a struggling team needs, is a skipper low in self-confidence.

Lack of captaincy experience

The right-hander made his international debut for Australia in the year 2012 and has been in and around the limited overs circuit for his country since then. But he has not captained the international side ever since. Also, he doesn’t have any experience of leading the sides even in domestic cricket.

Additionally, he hardly has any captaincy stints from any of the T20 leagues around the world. He has played IPL for three different franchise namely Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab but he always had someone else lead the side. An experienced captain would have been the demand of the hour for the Kings.

Inconsistencies in the team

Punjab have had so many different captains in the past couple of years which hasn’t helped their performance in the league. George Bailey was the skipper in the 2015 edition. David Miller was then entrusted with the duties at the start of the 2016 season.

After the poor run last year, Miller was sacked midway through the tournament and Murali Vijay was handed over the captaincy. But that too didn’t help their cause as they were tottering at the bottom at the end of the league stage. Though Vijay tried hard to regroup the team but things had already gone out of the hands by the time he started leading.

Presence of other international captains

After the player auction this year, the Punjab squad was strengthened with the inclusion of players like Eoin Morgan and Darren Sammy. Both have been the leaders of their respective international sides for so long. Sammy has won two T20 world cups for West Indies and also led Peshawar Zalmi to the Pakistan Super League Crown a few days back.

To resurrect the team in the upcoming league, it would have been better to stick with the previous captain or an experienced captain to ensure some sort of stability. Whether Maxwell proves to be the tide-turner or not, still remains to be seen. The franchise would certainly hope for better returns after back to back dismal results.