‘Don’t need a fan like you’: The story of fallout between Virender Sehwag and Glenn Maxwell at Punjab Kings

The Indian Premier League (IPL) auctions are around the corner as teams look to shuffle the pack for the 2025 season. While there could be some surprising reunions, teams will look to make sure there isn’t bad blood in the camp.

One particular reunion that will be avoided will be that of Virender Sehwag and Glenn Maxwell. While Sehwag is currently not in proximity with any team, Maxwell still has high stocks and could land at any team.

Why is there bad blood between Sehwag and Maxwell?

In his new book, Maxwell explained the reason why he is not on good terms having fallen out with him during the Indian Premier League (IPL 2017) season. The duo was mentor and player that time before things went on a bad track. According to the book, Maxwell’s decisions as captain were not respected by Sehwag and there came a point where the team was run by the latter.

During IPL 2017, despite coach J Arun Kumar’s presence, Sehwag pulled the strings while Maxwell’s decision to add other coaching members to the Whatsapp group where key decisions were made did not go well.

The peak of the saga was when Ishant Sharma was not supposed to play while Eoin Morgan was drafted in place of pacer Matt Henry. The decision according to Maxwell made no sense as Punjab Kings later lost the match.

 

After the match, the fallout was evident with Maxwell prohibited from doing the press conference, instead Sehwag came slotted in. On their way back to the hotel, Maxwell was removed from the team’s main WhatsApp group, all but ending his ties with the franchise.

Maxwell texted Sehwag to say how much it hurt to read those comments and added that he had lost a fan in me for the way he had conducted himself. Sehwag’s response was simple: “Don’t need a fan like you.” We never spoke again. I knew my time was at an end and told the owners as much: if Sehwag was going to stick around, they were making a mistake and not to bother with me. He only lasted one more season.

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