Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) star overseas player Glenn Maxwell feels Virat Kohli without the burden of captaincy is "dangerous news" for opposition teams. In a space of few months, Kohli gave up captaincy across formats.
“He knows he’s handing the captaincy over, which I think is potentially a big burden for him. It might have been something that’s been weighing him down for a while and now that he’s been able to release it, it might be dangerous news for opposition teams,” Maxwell said during RCB Podcast.
Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season was his last as the captain of RCB where they managed to reach the playoffs. RCB has announced former South African skipper Faf du Plessis as their new captain for the upcoming 10-team tournament. Maxwell feels that the former Indian skipper seems a bit relaxed now.
“It is amazing for him to be relaxed a bit and actually enjoy the next few years of his career without any of that sort of external pressure. I think playing against him in earlier days, he was a fiery competitor, getting in your face. He’s always trying to impose himself on the game. Impose himself on the opposition,” the 33-year-old said.
The two have played against each other for a better part of their career in IPL and international stage. However, Maxwell is surprised by how close the two got in just one year.
“Something I’ve noticed more from him this year is he’s been really measured with his emotions. He’s actually been really measured with his decision-making. He’s certainly really surprised me and probably how close we’ve both gotten to each other as well this year. Being able to talk about the game in a calm manner,” the explosive batter said.
“Because you do see that over-excited, in your face style when you play against him. But to play with him and have really good conversations about the game, I’ve really enjoyed that,” he provided further insight.
Maxwell was retained by RCB for Rs 11 crore last year and had his best IPL season so far. He scored 513 runs at an average of 42.75 including six half-centuries.
