Australia's Glenn Maxwell
Credit: Reuters photo
New Delhi: Dashing Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has appreciated Royal Challengers Benagluru's effort to reach out to him and explain the reasons behind not retaining him ahead of this month's IPL 2025 mega auction, terming his exit from the franchise as a "beautiful" one.
RCB has retained only three Indian players -- Virat Kohli, Yash Dayal and Rajat Patidar.
Maxwell joined RCB in 2021, and played a key role in the middle-order in the past four seasons, out of which the Benagaluru side made it to three play-offs.
"I got a phone call from Mo Bobat and Andy Flower. I sat there on a zoom call, where they explained the decision not to be retained. It was actually really beautiful, except may be if that could be possible. We ended up talking about the game for about half-an-hour, talking about their strategy and what they are looking to do going forward," Maxwell said on ESPNcricinfo's Around the Wicket show.
"I completely understand the direction they are heading. They need 3 Indians to build that core and hopefully, their overseas players can complement those locals. I was really happy with that. If every team did that, I think probably will make relationships more smoother," added the Australian, who is RCB's fifth-highest run getter with 1266 runs from 52 matches.
Maxwell, however, still harbours hopes of being picked by RCB in the mega auction, slated to take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on November 24 and 25.
"I won't say my RCB innings is over but I would certainly like to get back there. It was a great franchise and I really enjoyed my time there." RCB's head coach Andy Flower and Director of Cricket Mo Bobat also took RCB's Instagram handle to explain about the franchise's decision not to retain big names like Maxwell, former skipper Faf du Plessis and India pacer Mohammed Siraj.
"Maxi (Maxwell) has been an integral part of RCB. He is a sensationally, exciting player. He is known for the maverick type tag and that's how he plays and sometimes that's how he lives," Flower said.
Bobat was more detailed, saying: "He (Siraj) has played for RCB in the past and not somebody we have retained at this junction. Again we have kept our options open in particular with our desire to retain a strong Indian core to use our finances in that way and keep our options in terms of our overseas players.
"There are a number of overseas players we have not retained but we will keep an eye on them going into the auction." Both Flower and Bobat said the decision not to retain Du Plessis and Siraj was a tough a very difficult one.
"One of the people affected by these retentions is someone I admire greatly -- Faf du Plessis. I have known Faf for a number of years. I have worked with him at different franchises, it was really a tough season. He is calm, strong with a good sense of humour. He is a guy we spent a lot of time discussing," Flower said.
"This is the start of a new cycle with the auctions, we are leaving our options open on the leadership front." Bobat termed the decision to let go Du Plessis as a tricky one.
"The decision to not retain Faf was a tricky one because I have great admiration for him as a bloke, as a cricketer, as a leader and as a captain. We can't underestimate how bigger role he has played for us in the last few years and we are going to be missing him. That was a tough decision for us.
"Obviously the way these retentions are set up it is difficult to get everything you want. I think he will admit that he is in the latter part of his career now and obviously Andy and I have to really think strongly around RCB's leadership moving forward." Both Flower and Bobat said the decision not to retain Siraj was completely a tactical thinking.
"I am sure one of the surprises around our retention is that we haven't retained Mohammed Siraj. Siraj is a successful international cricketer of great repute. He also has been with RCB for last eight seasons. The skills in the fast bowling department we have already identified and retained, they think which we want is the left-arm angle and T20 skills that Yash Dayal has," Flower explained.
Bobat added: "Probably the decision which took most time is whether we retain Mohammed Siraj or not because he has got that real fire which is infectious for the rest of the team. He goes on quite well with Virat and the combination of those two is very powerful. It was a big decision for us to make not to retain Siraj."