Kings XI Punjab may not make the playoffs, but Glenn Maxwell has been an impressive captain

When Kolkata Knight Riders go ballistic in the Powerplay, the opposition has lost the match. That’s how it has played out in the 10th edition of the Indian Premier League so far. So when KKR rocketed to 61/1 in the first six overs, chasing a relatively easy 169 on Tuesday at Mohali, the match, and along with it, their playoff hopes seemed done and dusted for Kings XI Punjab.

That that script didn’t work out was due to a spectacular comeback engineered by some brilliant bowling from Kings XI Punjab, but also helped by Glenn Maxwell’s proactive captaincy.

Now, captaincy and Kings XI Punjab don’t go along well. They have had nine captains in 10 seasons, including two in one season last year. The last time they appointed a captain with no significant experience, David Miller in 2016, things became so bad that Murali Vijay was given the reins mid-season. It still didn’t stop them from finishing dead last, for the second successive year.

So, eyebrows were raised when Glenn Maxwell was named their captain for the 2017 season. The Australian firebrand has no captaincy experience at the senior level. He has only captained his Melbourne club Fitzroy-Doncaster and Victoria’s Future’s League team.

Now, with the season almost over, the verdict is in: Kings XI Punjab have not had a great season and their chances of making the playoffs still seem distant. But despite that, their punt of making Maxwell captain can be considered a success.

The right for Kings XI

Maxwell has taken to captaincy in exactly the right spirit. He’s a proactive customer, continuously shuffling his bowlers, relying on instinct and not afraid to mix things up. When there’s pressure, he’s not been afraid to face the music himself and, if you go by his six wickets at an economy rate of just 17, it’s more often than not, worked out.

The way he squeezed KKR’s batsmen on Tuesday night was smart captaincy. Punjab were under the pressure, make no mistake, about it. They had got only 168 on the board, in the same venue where two days earlier, they could not defend 189. Kolkata were up and running at 61/1 and Chris Lynn and Gautam Gambhir were at the crease. The chase looked like it could only go one way.

But Maxwell’s punts worked off. After watching his senior spinner Axar Patel being hammered for 10 inside the Powerplay, another captain may have thought twice about bringing in spin. But not Maxwell.

Not afraid to change things around

“As soon as that first ball [Rahul Tewatia’s opening delivery] spun, we realised we could get in a lot of overs from the spinners,” said Maxwell at the post-match ceremony. And he kept his word.

He brought in the leg-spinner Tewatia, playing in his first IPL match this season, who immediately rewarded him with a three-run first over and then, the two big wickets of Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa. Between overs six to 15, he continued a relentless barrage of spin, through Tewatia, Swapnil Singh and Patel. KKR scored only 57 runs in those nine overs and lost two wickets. The big-hitting Chris Lynn, who had 41 off 19 balls after the Powerplay ended, added 34 runs off 27 balls. Effectively, KKR lost the match in this period.

Of course, Kings XI Punjab’s pacers also bowled beautifully at the death, mixing up the knuckle ball with other variations to hold KKR down. Maxwell also deserves some credit for the way he’s resolutely backed his bowlers.

Let’s face it, Kings XI Punjab don’t have the best of squads and it needs a good captain to get the best out of them. A bowling line-up comprising the likes of Sandeep Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Axar Patel and Varun Aaron is not likely to give batsmen sleepless nights but Maxwell has show immense confidence in them. Thanks to the backing of an aggressive captain, they have delivered to a sizeable extent – Sandeep Sharma and Axar Patel’s bowling averages this season are 21.50 and 24.69 this season while Mohit Sharma received the Player of the Match for his spell of 2/24 on Tuesday.

It may not be enough to take them to the playoffs. But considering the depths to which Kings XI Punjab had fallen, it’s not been a bad season. And, Glenn Maxwell’s proactive captaincy has had a role to play in that.