Glenn Maxwell made an impressive return to Indian Premier League, scoring 399 runs off 28 balls for his new team, Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2021 opener at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai against defending champions Mumbai Indians on Friday.
Maxwell recorded his worst IPL season in the 13th edition playing for Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), scoring 106 runs off 108 balls without a single half-century and a maximum. Maxwell was eventually released by the franchise before being roped in for INR 14.25 crore by RCB in the Chennai auction last February in a bid to boost their middle-order scoring.
Following the dismissal of debutant Rajat Patidar, Maxwell walked in at No.4 and laced three boundaries and two sixes en route to his 28-ball 39, while also stitching a 52-run partnership with skipper Virat Kohli.
Overwhelmed by his big-hitting strokes, RCB took to Twitter to thank Punjab Kings saying, "First Maxi-mum in Red and Gold and he nearly hits it out of Chennai!Exploding head. Thank you @PunjabKingsIPL. We would hug you if not for social distancing."
Returning the favour, Punjab replied saying, "Aww and thank you for Gayle, KL, Mandy, Sarfaraz, Mayank..."
The banter continued as RCB added, "You missed jersey, helmet, pads...and logo? But between us, who's keeping count?"
Punjab replied: "Yes, thank you for inventing colours Smiling face with smiling eyes. And congrats on the win."
RCB won a season opener for the first time in three attempts while Mumbai Indians' opening blues continued as the champions suffered a two-wicket defeat in the nail-biting contest at Chepauk.
Harshal Patel's record five-wicket haul restricted Mumbai's power hitters as the team set a target of 160. MI looked to bounce back after Maxwell's departure before AB de Villiers powered his way to a 27-ball 48 to help RCB start their campaign with a win.
RCB will next face Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Chepauk on April 14.
