
Sydney, November 20: Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has brushed off the criticism from former India opener Virender Sehwag, saying 'he will take it with a grain of salt'.
Kings XI Punjab all-rounder Maxwell was highly criticised by Sehwag for his dismal run in the IPL 2020. Sehwag called Maxwell a "10 crore cheerleader" who is on a "highly-paid vacation" as he just managed to accumulate 108 runs off 13 games.
The all-rounder also failed to hit a single six for the first time in his eight-season IPL career. "It's ok. Viru is pretty outspoken with his dislike of me, and that's fine. He's allowed to say whatever he likes," The West Australian quoted Maxwell as saying.
"He's in the media for such statements, so that's fine. I deal with that and move on, and take it with a grain of salt with Sehwag," he added. Maxwell said the mental health break he took at the end of last year had helped him deal with his recent form slump and general life struggles that 2020 has presented.
"I think I'm better equipped with dealing with those sorts of things now. I think in hindsight it was a pretty good time to go through something like that where I was able to put some groundwork in to deal with adversity. This year has certainly been a massive test of it," Maxwell said.
"To be able to help people through different times of tough periods and be able to help myself through those tough periods has been really key as well," he added.
Maxwell is part of the Australian squad for the upcoming limited-overs series against India. Earlier in the day, Cricket Australia (CA) informed that three T20Is and two ODIs between India and Australia have been sold out after tickets went on sale on Friday (November 20).