Glenn Maxwell, Royal Challengers Bengaluru's power-hitter and spinner, has opted to take an indefinite ‘mental and physical’ break from the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League on Tuesday. The 2023 World Cup winner was retained by RCB for IPL 2024. The former Punjab Kings star was roped in by the Virat Kohli-starrer side for a whopping sum of INR 14.25 crore at the IPL 2021 auction.

Coming out in support of RCB superstar Maxwell on Tuesday, legendary Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting has opined that the all-rounder has made the right call by taking a break from the cash-rich league. Ponting, who is the head coach of Rishabh Pant's Delhi Capitals at the IPL 2024, labelled Maxwell as one of RCB's 'Big Dogs'. All-rounder Maxwell has struggled to score runs consistently for the Bengaluru giants in the ongoing season.

If they don't perform, the results tend to not follow them: Ponting

"For someone like Glenn in that team (RCB), he being one of the 'Big Dogs' along with Virat, a lot of pressure comes on couple of players playing in that team. If they don't perform, the results tend to not follow them," Ponting told news agency PTI. "If you see what they have done in the tournament so far, pressure builds up on individual player as well. I read that article today morning that Glenn wants to step aside, just have a few games off and try and refresh," Ponting said.

How Maxwell performed so far in IPL 2024?

Maxwell has only accumulated 32 runs at an average of 5.33 and a strike-rate of 94 for RCB. Speaking at the post-match press conference on Monday, Maxwell revealed that he asked the RCB management for a physical and mental break. Maxwell-less RCB lost the high-scoring contest to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 25 runs at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium. Maxwell took a similar break from the game in 2019. The RCB star made his return after a couple of months at the time. Maxwell scored 32 against Kolkata Knight Riders, but the Aussie all-rounder also dropped catches in the IPL.

Ponting's message for RCB coach

"Every individual is different right. Some guys would want to get going and push through that and get some runs on board and thus that will change their way of how they think about the game and some guys need to step back and have a break. That's why one needs to be really understanding as a coach now that anyone who is around the cricket team, their health and well-being and welfare of the players is something you think about first," Ponting added.

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