Cricket star Glenn Maxwell astounds his teammates by going into shock to protect his mental health

Superstar all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has revealed he asked to be dropped from his IPL squad and sought a mental refresher after declining returns to ‘get my body right’ for the T20 World Cup.

Maxwell did not play for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the high-scoring loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad and said he felt it was the right time to take a ‘mental and physical break’ after scoring just 32 runs in six innings.

His fall has included three ducks as RCB slipped to the bottom of the standings with just one win, and 28 of his runs came in a single innings.

Maxwell said it was not unusual to go through poor runs in T20 cricket and was confident his pre-IPL efforts would bounce back in time for Australia’s World Cup campaign.

Maxwell scored just 32 runs in six innings and has decided to take a break from the sport

“I don’t think I’ve had a better six months in cricket leading into this tournament so it’s frustrating when it ends like this,” he said.

‘Unfortunately, the runs just haven’t come as they feel they should when you’re in really good shape.

‘I’ve probably been in this situation before, where you can keep playing and get deeper into a hole.

‘I think now is a good time to give myself a mental and physical break and get my body right.

‘After the first few games didn’t go to plan for me personally, I thought it was a pretty easy decision to make.

‘I went to the coaches, (captain) Faf (du Plessis) last game and said, ‘It’s probably time we try another’.

‘I felt I didn’t contribute positively with the bat … and with our results and the position we’re in on the table, it’s a good time to give someone else an opportunity to try and show their wares and hopefully someone can make that place their own.’

Maxwell said he felt he did not contribute positively with the bat

Maxwell says it’s a good opportunity to give another player a chance while he rests

Maxwell did not rule himself out of the remaining six games but needed to ‘get back to a solid mental and physical space where I can still have an impact for RCB’.

He said there was no obvious reason why the runs had not come as his lead had been so good.

“I probably just haven’t gotten away, it’s that simple,” Maxwell said.

‘In the first couple of games I felt like I was making reasonably good decisions, but I was still finding ways to get out.

‘It can happen in T20 cricket and when it can snowball like that and you feel you’re not getting the runs, you can start searching and trying too hard and forget the fundamentals of the game.

‘Even if you look at the first game, I ran one through the middle of the bat to the keeper by picking up the length really well.

‘I saw a scoring opportunity and I opened the face (of the bat) a bit too much and when it goes really well it goes just wide of the gloves, you get a boundary and you’re four off one and suddenly you’re gone for the tournament.

‘T20 cricket can be like that sometimes, it’s quite a fickle game.’

Maxwell, who smashed an epic 55-ball 120 against the West Indies in Adelaide in February, joined Australia’s Cameron Green on the sidelines as he too had been dropped.