IPL 2021: RCB coach Simon Katich hails 'magnificent' Glenn Maxwell after Aussie shines in back-to-back wins

Chennai: Glenn Maxwell is proving to be a multi-utility player for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) besides showing ominous form with the bat early in the Indian Premier League (IPL), feels head coach Simon Katich. The 32-year-old, who was snapped by RCB for Rs 14.25 crore after a massive bidding war with CSK, already has justified the faith shown in him by playing two match-winning knocks in their back-to-back wins this season. The Australian is also looking to shed the perennial under-performer tag in the IPL. “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 Katich. [caption id=“attachment_9532761” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  RCB’s Glenn Maxwell has scored 98 runs in the two matches so far at a strike rate of 142.02. Sportzpics[/caption] In the IPL 2020 held in the UAE, Maxwell endured a dismal run with then Kings XI Punjab, scoring 108 runs from 13 matches at 15.42. He failed to hit a single six and also struggled to get the team over the line on many a times as the Punjab franchise finally gave up on the Aussie ahead of this year’s auction. But Katich said he has been multi-faceted with RCB franchise this season. “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. “He’s taken a lot of the young guys under his wing at fielding practice, worked with him on that aspect of our game because we know that’s an area we have to keep being good and really open up opportunities for run out and catches. “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 also hailed the spirit shown by the team in defending the modest total against SRH. “It’s certainly obviously gets tense, but I think spirit with which we played that was fantastic in both games, so regardless of result we’re really proud of the way they go about it. “The fact that we got over the line both times is great. If we hadn’t got over the line, then the fact that we fought really hard and stayed in the contest as long as we did, particularly tonight, when Warner and Pandey were putting on a very good partnership, and things were in their favour.”