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Glenn Maxwell believes 'stress free' Kohli will be a big threat for opponents

Virat Kohli had earlier announced that he will not be leading the Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise in the upcoming seasons of the IPL. South Africa’s Faf du Plessis was appointed as the captain of the side earlier this month.


Now RCB all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has given a bold statement regarding Virat Kohli. Maxwell has said that Virat Kohli looks “stress free” now and it will be a dangerous sign for the other teams. Virat’s sole focus will be on his batting now and he will look to give his 100% for the team. 


“He knows he’s handing the captaincy over, which I think is potentially a big burden for him. It might have been something that’s been weighing him down for a while and now that he’s been able to release it, it might be dangerous news for opposition teams,” Maxwell told RCB Podcast.


“It is amazing for him to be relaxed a bit and actually enjoy the next few years of his career without any of that sort of external pressure. I think playing against him in earlier days, he was a fiery competitor, getting in your face. He’s always trying to impose himself on the game. Impose himself on the opposition.”


Kohli has become a bit softer over the years. The burden of captaincy may have put too much pressure on him to get the results as the Bangalore franchise had never been able to win the IPL. With that pressure released now we may just see the best of Virat once again. Maxwell was glad that he has become a good friend of Kohli and can have great conversations with him. 


“Something I’ve noticed more from him this year is he’s been really measured with his emotions. He’s actually been really measured with his decision-making. He’s certainly really surprised me and probably how close we’ve both gotten to each other as well this year. Being able to talk about the game in a calm manner,” Maxwell said.


“Because you do see that over-excited, in your face style when you play against him. But to play with him and have really good conversations about the game, I’ve really enjoyed that.”


IPL 2022 commences with a match between the Chennai Super Kings and the Kolkata Knight Riders on March 26. RCB start their season against Punjab Kings on March 27.

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ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 | WI defeat BAN in another low scoring thriller

The ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 has been a stellar advertisement for the game of women’s cricket. Scores of tight matches and shock results have given renewed push for a full blown women’s calendar and the latest match between Bangladesh and West Indies supported the same. After suffering heavy defeats in the last two encounters, Windies desperately needed to win this game to remain alive in the race for top four and up against them were minnows Bangladesh who were high on confidence after their historic first win against Pakistan in the World Cup. Minnows make trouble again The match was stacked heavily towards the Windies side on paper, but as it has happened several times in this World Cup already, things can go haywire very quickly for the heavyweights on the day of the game. Playing in Mount Maunganui on Friday 18 March, things went sideways in the 9th over for West Indies when star batter Deandra Dottin edged one back to the keeper. From 29/1, after a healthy stroke filled start, a string of loose shots from the Windies women resulted in a landslide and found their team tottering at 70/7 by the 36th over. Goes without saying that the women from the Caribbean shores were to blame themselves for their undoing, choosing wrong balls to hit on wrong occasions. Spinners day out It was quite clear in the first innings that pace was not be that effective in the track as just two wickets were taken by the pacers on the day, and spinners making their presence felt in the very first 20 overs. Wickets would have come even quicker if catches would have either carried or stuck in the slip cordon for Bangladesh women. However, they did not have to rue those like Australia did in the final day against Pakistan in the men’s Test series the day before, as some good fielding on Bangladesh’s part affected two run outs. For Windies, Shemaine Campbelle scored 53 runs off 107 balls, playing a very slow innings to provide at least something on board for their bowlers to defend. Bangladesh rued their chance of getting her out when she was batting at 29 missing out on a stumping chance when she was miles down the line. The ball turned and bounced sharply on keeper Shamima Sultana, that she failed to grab it at all. Bangladesh did not manage to nip the Windies innings but did not give away free runs as well, keeping the team to just 140 runs in their 50 overs. Easy target Coming into bat, there could not have been a better stage for Bangladesh women to make their presence felt in the league table, however, that was not to be. Bangladesh needed a safe start to take this game away from Windies, but they lost the wicket of Shamima Sultana in the very first over. Props to West Indies for starting with offspinner Hayley Matthews and she reaped the rewards very quickly from the track that had a lot of purchase. She affected the second dismissal of the innings, removing Sharmin Akhtar in the 9th over edging her to the slips. Bangladesh were 30 runs up at that point and there was no reason to panic given the score was so less. With Matthews almost done with her overs, it was time for Windies throw the ball to leg spinner Afy Fletcher, but her onset did not bring any issues to Bangladeshi batting. The panic At 60/2 Bangladesh looked well set to chase the remaining 80 runs down from almost 30 overs and there was no reason to believe that Windies could change the course of the game. Afy Fletcher, wicketless for her first 5 overs giving away 17 runs, thought that she was not done with the game yet and produced magnificent nine balls to change the course of the game. In the 22nd over, she clean bowled Fargana Hoque who was looking to slog sweep the ball and missing out on the line completely. Returning in her next over, she produced a lovely flighted leg spinner to clip the edge of experienced Rumana Ahmed and then in the very next ball caught Ritu Moni plumb in front with a googly. From 60/2, Bangladesh were 60/5 in a space of three overs. Returning to bowl in her final spell, Hayley Matthews took two important wickets in the 33rd over dismissing captain Nigar Sultana (25 off 77) and Fahima Khatun (0 off 2) to deal crucial blows to the Bangladesh batters. At 85/7, West Indies believed that they had the game in their pockets and could hope for a win in an unlikely Friday in New Zealand. Understanding the issue, batters Salma Khatun and Nahida Akhtar started accumulating runs one by one and three dropped chances between 33rd to 42nd dented their chances in the game. Bangladesh realised they had built momentum and had found a way to win the game. However, as the old adage goes, you make your own luck, and Bangladesh undid their playing two lose shots and submitting easy catches at short mid on position. With two wickets to go, the tailenders dabbed the balls and took runs to bring the equation down to eight runs in the final six overs, but an inside edge in the third ball of the game marked the end of what was an absolute thriller on the day. The game was an absolute advertisement for the women’s sport which has seen a lot of flak aimed at the respective national administrations for their negligence towards them. With the win, Windies remained in the hunt for the semi final spot in the third place on the points table, while Bangladesh stayed in the bottom two having wasted their chances to move above England.