Gautam Gambhir makes fun of Glenn Maxwell for 'Buttering' Virat Kohli ahead of IPL auction

Hoping to bounce back from an awful campaign at the IPL 2020, ex-Kings XI Punjab player Glenn Maxwell seems to have his sights set a little south of his former home base. The quirky allrounder was let go from the Punjab side after failing to impress in either role in the UAE. Now in the hunt for another contract, Maxwell has strongly indicated that he would like to join forces with the Virat Kohli-led Bangalore side that made it to the playoffs last season.

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Gautam Gambhir pokes fun at Glenn Maxwell for his pre-IPL auction tactics

Former Indian cricketer and previous captain of the Delhi and Kolkata IPL teams, Gautam Gambhir agrees with Maxwell's projections for himself, saying that he believed the Aussie would go for a lot despite his poor showing in 2020. Talking on air during the 2nd India vs England Test, the cricketer-turned-politician said, “Virat Kohli will definitely be looking to open the batting. Padikkal has done very, very well for them in the previous season. Then they have got AB, and then they can have someone like Maxwell — the X factor”.

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Alongside the praise, however, Gambhir also called out Maxwell for his pre-auction statements talking about how much he would love to bat alongside "his idol" AB de Villiers. "That's a good marketing stunt, saying that 'I get along really well with Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers is my idol,'" Gambhir remarked. This tactic may come back to bite Maxwell, come the auction, but if his words do come true, his addition to the RCB side might finally give the team the push they need to win their first IPL title.

RCB need 11 players to complete their squad with a purse of 34.9 crores. Maxwell, coasting on his brilliant BBL 2021 season, has set his base price at Rs 2 crore. With so many teams in dire need of a power hitter who can double up as a decent bowler and who is a dab hand on the field, Maxwell may well cause another bidding war that RCB cannot afford to get into.

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RCB players list ahead of IPL 2021 auction

RCB players retained: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Yuzvendra Chahal, Devdutt Padikkal, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Adam Zampa, Shahbaz Ahmed, Josh Philippe, Kane Richardson, Pavan Deshpande

RCB players released: Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Aaron Finch, Chris Morris, Pavan Negi, Parthiv Patel (retired), Dale Steyn (unavailable), Isuru Udana, Umesh Yadav

How and where to watch IPL auction live in India?

The IPL 2021 auction will take place in Chennai on February 18, Thursday. The event is set to begin at 3:00 PM IST and as always will be a televised event in the country. Star Sports has the mandate for covering and broadcasting the event, meaning that there will also be an IPL auction live stream available on the network's streaming platform, Disney+ Hotstar. 

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Image Credits: AP