Former Indian cricketer and ex-KKR opener Aakash Chopra has analyzed the fact that Punjab Kings did not have any plans with Australian batter Glenn Maxwell, who has had a poor run in this IPL season. So far, in six innings, Maxwell has scored just 48 runs at an average of 8, while his strike rate has dipped below 100. A significant chunk of those runs came from one innings where he scored 30 against the Rajasthan Royals.
On his YouTube channel, Chopra asked whether Punjab Kings might give the 36-year-old another chance during their crucial match against CSK. He was also quick to praise the team’s openers, Prabhsimran Singh, and Priyansh Arya, for putting up a stunning show this season. Meanwhile, captain Shreyas Iyer seems to be finding his run, but I expect much more from him.
“Shreyas Iyer scored a few runs in the last match, but you want him to get a bigger score,” said Chopra. “This team has an exciting opening pair with Prabhsimran and Priyansh doing well.”
He even could not understand that Punjab Kings were still going with Maxwell as he said: “They have tried everything, still he is not working. I don’t know what they will do with Maxi. Will he still not perform, they will go with Marcus Stoinis instead? He had a good game on this ground.”
For the time being, Punjab Kings are lying in the fifth position of the IPL 2025 standings, having won five matches and lost three out of nine. Their next match is against the bottom-placed Chennai Super Kings on April 30.
