Ricky Ponting feels KXIP captaincy will bring the best out of Glenn Maxwell

Former Australian World Cup winning captain Ricky Ponting was not really expecting Kings XI Punjab to name Glenn Maxwell as their captain but he feels it could be the start of something much bigger for the hard hitting batsman. For records, it was the first time Maxwell was elected as the captain of any senior professional team so it was really a big call from the owners of Kings XI Punjab.

Under his tenure, Punjab has already won their opening two matches of the tournament and looks in good stead. After defeating RPS in the opening encounter, they yet again made light work of the total set by Royal Challengers Bangalore. To go with his captaincy, Maxwell is also finding the gaps to perfection and looking in ominous touch at the moment.

Maxwell is having a tremendous time in India and will look to continue his rich vein of form throughout the rest of the tournament. It was around four weeks ago when Maxwell struck his maiden Test century at Ranchi and followed it up with an unbeaten innings of 44 and 43 in the opening two games of the tournament. On both the occasions the strike rate was well over the 200 mark.

Despite being surprised with Maxwell being appointed as the captain, Ponting feels that his elevation to the top might be the beginning of something very special for the swashbuckling batsman. “I was a little bit surprised (they made him captain) but I’m actually really excited for him to get that opportunity,” Ponting was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au last week.

“I actually think it’ll bring the best out of him. His last couple of years of IPL cricket haven’t been as good as the years prior, but to get that bit more of responsibility could be just what he needs. We’ve just seen him have a breakthrough Test innings a couple of weeks ago, which I think delighted all of Australia. Everyone has been waiting for that breakout performance and there it was.

“This could just be the start. It could be the beginning of a very, very good back half of Glenn Maxwell’s life. So I wish him all the best,” he further added. The decision to give Maxwell the leadership role was surprising given the fact, the hard-hitter have no experience of captaincy at the senior level.

He was picked in the XI ahead of the South African opener and former captain Hashim Amla, David Miller, Murali Vijay and even England’s limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan. It was 3 years ago when Maxwell led his Melbourne Club Fitzroy Donacaster but IPL is different ball game altogether. But Ponting feels that Maxwell’s biggest challenge will be off the field rather than on it.

“The moments I’ve spent with him and you talk about the game with him, I think he understands the game particularly well and the good thing is he’s got a few Aussie boys (Kings XI teammates Marcus Stoinis and Shaun Marsh) around him as well that’ll make that job a little bit easier. He’s familiar with the coaches and the owners as well, which is really important in the IPL.

“They’re the kind of things you have to manage as a captain or a coach of an IPL team. There’s so many external things to manage. And that’s probably going to be the most difficult thing for Maxi the on-field stuff will be fine, the other pressures that come with it will be a bigger challenge.

And the Australian says the confidence he gained from his breakthrough Test series has helped him make a strong start to the tournament.

Following his success in the Test series, Maxwell feels it is the confidence which he gained after scoring his maiden Test century that his helping him in the KXIP colours.

“I think it was pretty much a clean slate for the whole team. We came in with blank minds … we can’t control what’s happened in the past but hopefully, we can control what happens in our future.

“I’ve been hitting the ball quite well and it’s been nice to be comfortable in my line-up in the team and feel like I can control my own destiny in that. It’s nice to have the leadership, it’s given me an extra bit of responsibility and I’m really thriving with that at the moment,” Maxwell concluded.