IPL 2024: 'Nothing To Do With Mental Health' - Glenn Maxwell Clarifies His Absence From RCB Playing 11

Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has clarified that his absence from Royal Challengers Bengaluru's side in the Indian Premier League (IPL) was due to his form rather than needing a mental break.

Maxwell, who is key to RCB's middle-order, had made a total of just 32 runs in 6 innings before taking a break from the team's last outing against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Post the SRH match, Maxwell had revealed his conversation with the captain Faf Du Plessis and the coaching staff asking them to drop him from the playing as he wanted to take a mental and physical break.

This created a confusion as many interpreted this break as something to do with the star all-rounder's mental health, but Maxwell clarified that it had nothing to do with needing to take a long break from the event.

After registering scores of 0, 3, 28, 0, 1, 0, the 35-year-old simply thought he was not at his best and wanted to avoid any difficult conversations with captain and coach Andy Flower by requesting to be omitted from the playing 11.

"I was pretty low on confidence. I had a good couple of net sessions and just went out to the ground and felt really tentative. I wasn't able to really commit to my game plans and just felt like if I had kept playing and playing that role, I don't think the results would change too much," Maxwell said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

"So I just went to Faf and said, look, I think we need to try someone else in my position and had the same conversation with Andy Flower, the coach, and to me it was a bit of a no-brainer. I think it sort of saves the tough conversation they might have to have about dropping me."

Maxwell also hinted that this break is not an extended one and he will be soon back playing, but whether that is in the ongoing IPL 2024 with Royal Challengers Bengaluru though is unclear.

"I felt really at peace with it. Obviously, I'm frustrated that I wasn't able to get the results I would have liked but comfortable in the fact that I know I feel like I've made the right decision for the team and it's certainly not like I'm taking an extended break away from the game," Maxwell added.

RCB has won just 1 match in 7 outings this season and face a tough challenge to make the playoffs this season. The Bengaluru-based side will next be in action against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday (April 21).