Australia's swashbuckling all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has expressed his desire to join the Virat Kohli-led franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore ahead of the auction for the 2021 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Maxwell, who was released by the Kings XI Punjab, ahead of the upcoming auction said during a media interaction from New Zealand, where he will be taking part in the five-match T20I series against New Zeland for his country, that he will be delighted if he is picked by the Bangalore franchise, as this will give him a chance to play alongside one of his idols in AB de Villiers.
"That'll be awesome. AB is one of my idols and one of the guys I've always tried to watch the way he goes about," Maxwell said.
Maxwell is one of the ten players, who are in the prestigious 2 crore bracket as their base price. The bracket has two Indian players in Harbhajan Singh and Kedar Jadhav, while it also includes the likes of Steve Smith, Jason Roy, Sam Billings, Shakib Al Hasan, Moeen Ali, Mark Wood and Liam Plunkett.
Talking about the same, if that does happen, "It'll be awesome to work with him, and he's always been really helpful to me along the journey. Whenever I've caught up with him, he's been brilliant. So to be able to work with him first hand will be pretty cool."
Maxwell also shed light on the good rapport he shares with the RCB skipper Virat Kohli. "I get along with Virat pretty well. It'll be certainly nice to work under Virat and will certainly enjoy batting with him - that's for sure."
The 32-year old Victorian was purchased by the Punjab franchise for INR 10.75 crores in the last auction, but given his poor return in the season, where he didn't hit a single six, he was released by the franchise.
Maxwell will be one of the 292 players, set to go under the hammer on February 18 in Chennai. Maxwell has previously represented Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab in the lucrative league.
