Glenn Maxwell in his autobiography The Big Show has given an account of a cold war with his former IPL teammate, Virender Sehwag. It is quite a sad story or a rather dramatic one since it is swaddled in the kind of emotions that one would imagine a sportsman to display. They not only have great content tied to that sport and its overall changes involving teams and how they are built and managed.
In 2014 sehwag and maxwell both was playing in kings eleven punjab and that was really enjoyable and the team reached to second position in tournament. That was the tournament of Maxwell who won the most valuable player award and wreaked havoc with the bat and was the centerpiece of the franchise. But in the following seasons, there was a dramatic downfall in the success of the team and the relationship between both cricketers soured. As Maxwell was unable to find his 2014 form, he experienced a lot of pressure and busy criticism which only contributed to the conflict in the team more.
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Things were however not the same during the 2017 season because Maxwell was the captain of the side. Sehwag – now in a mentor’s role – often undermined the leadership, making decisions on his own without consulting the players and causing disorder.
It became so bitter between Maxwell and Sehwag that Maxwell eventually had to confront him, and it did not end well. It was obvious that the stress overstretched the limits and boundaries that come with dual authority and poor communication in sports management.
One of them was: Ishant Sharma taking center stage. But even after being dropped from the team, he came for practice. Sehwag’s randomness intervened when shortly after he started with Eoin Morgan, he subsequently chose to play both Ishant and Henry, which caused even more chaos. Such lack of order in leadership structures only exacerbated the existing conflicts, stressing the importance of having a well coordinated strategies for team success.
Brought on board these impediments, all, or at least the majority of the comeback arrived through Maxwell’s resolve and willpower. He did later find solace with Royal Challengers Bangalore where he combined with greats like Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. This new leaf turning displayed his ability to make an impact again after all odds of success appeared slim as he had shown us that eleven was a huge hallmark of a professional athlete. The book is a good read about Maxwell’s IPL years and also takes one back to how much pressure every player goes through and how good leadership is crucial. It shows that no matter how great an athlete is, he or she can face a number of problems, but it is how the athlete deals with these problems that makes up a sportsman’s career.