Katich reveals Glenn Maxwell helped Kohli with field placements vs SRH, praises the Aussie

Burying his ghosts of IPL 2021, Glenn Maxwell has returned to form right after he donned the Bangalore jersey and powered the team to victory in its very first two outings. The 32-year-old, who was snapped by RCB for Rs 14.25 crore after a massive bidding war with CSK, had much to prove after he failed to clear the ropes even once in UAE last year. However, in just two games so far, Maxwell has strengthened the middle-order and played two match-winning knocks with the latest coming against KKR on Wednesday. 

Delighted by Maxwell's performances so far, RCB head coach Simon Katich heaped praise upon the Australian all-rounder. Remarking that Maxwell showed maturity against SRH on Wednesday, Katich highlighted that the Australian had helped skipper Virat Kohli in field positioning as well. "He's shown a lot of maturity, particularly today (against SRH on Wednesday) when wickets were falling around him... He summed up the conditions really well and took the game deep, that's credit to him for his experience for summing it up and then executing right at the end when we needed some quick runs," said the RCB head coach. 

'Big role for us': Katich

"He's been magnificent. He's had a big role for us, first in the field helping Virat out there with field positioning to have the right guys in the right places at the right time. He has really embraced it," Katich said in a video posted on their website.

Elaborating on Maxwell's role at RCB, Katich said that the Australian has also taken a lot of youngsters under his wing. "He's been brilliant there but the big thing is obviously being with the bat. Both the times he's given himself a chance to get in stick to his game plan," the head coach added. 

While Maxwell failed to hit even a single boundary in the IPL 2021, he rose to the occasion in the first game against MI when he provided glimpses of his carnage in the season opener. The Australian power-hitter also notched up his first half-century in IPL after 2016 on Wednesday against SRH. Bangalore was reeling at 95/4 in the 14th over after being asked to bat first by Hyderabad skipper David Warner and that is when the Australian middle-order batsman stepped to the four and took the SRH bowlers to the cleaners as he played a counter-attacking knock. He was dismissed in the last ball of the innings for a brilliant 41-ball 59 including five boundaries and three maximums at a strike rate of 143.90 and took RCB to a fighting total of 149/8 from their 20 overs.