Mumbai, Apr 7 (IANS): Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) all-rounder Glenn Maxwell on Thursday showered praise on captain Faf du Plessis, saying that the former South Africa captain leads by example with his actions and performs really well.
In Bangalore's campaign till now of two wins and one loss, du Plessis has earned praise from all quarters for his leadership of the franchise and opening the batting with his predecessor Virat Kohli.
"We're really happy with Faf (du Plessis) at the helm. We think he's going to do a great job for the franchise and even the way he started, you can tel' he's got the respect of everyone in the room. Not only does he lead by example with his actions; but he also performs really well. To have a guy of his quality at the top of the order is something that's great for the franchise," said Maxwell in a video of the 'Bold Diaries' series on Thursday.
Maxwell also felt that apart from having du Plessis as captain, the team is strong enough to go all the way to the trophy. "And hopefully, the senior guys around can help him out as well. So, it's not just him shouldering all that workload we'd potentially have seen in the previous years at RCB."
"To have, I suppose, a solid leadership group behind him to sort of feel like it's not just him out there having to shoulder all the load. Hopefully, we can help him out at different stages. But we're very fortunate with the squad that we've got. We believe it's a winning squad."
Maxwell had words of praise for wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik, who has been churning out finishing touches for Bangalore, especially with an unbeaten 23-ball 44 against Rajasthan Royals. "I've been watching, and I think Anuj Rawat our own (youngster), he's very exciting. Who I have been really excited by actually, was one of the old fellas, Dinesh Karthik."
"He's been awesome. Just come in great form. Old fella's still doing it. I played with him in 2013 in Mumbai. Nine years later, we find ourselves back in the same change room. So, to see him go really well, and start well for us is awesome for us. We love having that depth in our batting order and he certainly gives it to us."
Maxwell is now available to turn out for Bangalore when they face Mumbai Indians on Saturday in Pune. He had missed the first few matches due to his wedding to Indian-origin pharmacist Vini Raman in Melbourne and had to wait for Australia's series against Pakistan to end on April 5 as Cricket Australia rules don't allow their contracted players to play domestic T20 competitions when international matches are on.
"I'm glad I look fit. I don't know. I don't exactly feel it. I haven't done much over the last few weeks. I was looking forward to getting over here. I know I had a week from when I landed to the first game that I was playing, so, I wanted to do that as preparation time and know that I can get myself up to match ready for that first game. I just can't wait for the night to get back out there with the guys," stated the all-rounder.
Maxwell, who was one of three retentions by Bangalore ahead of the 2022 season, signed off by revealing that he was in touch with the support staff when the mega auction was on in February.
"I've had a few messages before the tournament. I think I was probably more focussed on my wedding sort of before that. Knowing obviously that he (du Plessis) was going to be the captain, I was in touch with the coaches right throughout the auction, and that process as well."
"(I) still wanted to be heavily involved in moulding our team going forward. I think that was a big part of the three guys that were retained. We had to have those guys involved to make sure we had the right balance going forward with that squad and we are really happy with the squad that we have accumulated."