18 April,2021 07:45 AM IST | Mumbai | A Correspondent
Glenn Maxwell was a big flop for Punjab last season, but has lived up to his big price tag (Rs 14.25 crore) in the first two matches for RCB. Pic/BCCI; IPL
Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar reckons Indian Premier League-14 (IPL) big buys Glenn Maxwell and Chris Morris will capitalise on their fine starts to the tournament for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals respectively.
"As of now, Glenn Maxwell and Chris Morris have begun well, and with that confidence, it can be assumed they will only get better as the tournament goes on," wrote Gavaskar in his Sunday Mid-day column.
The purchase of South African Morris and Australian Maxwell had attracted amazement among cricket followers because they had not been top performers in previous editions.
Morris became the biggest buy in IPL history when Rajasthan Royals bought him for Rs 16.25 crore. Meanwhile, Maxwell was picked up for Rs 14.25 crore by the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the February auction.
The IPL has been littered with instances of players not living up to their high price tags. Gavaskar on Sunday pointed out that the people who recommend players to be bought at auctions for high prices, somehow escape criticism when the players who are sold for a hefty fee, don't fare well.
He wrote: "The eyes, as always, are on the highly-paid buys and there will be reams of articles written on how much each rupee was worth for these players. These guys are under pressure, for they know that if they don't meet expectations, then there will be criticism like they have seldom faced before.
"The irony is that those who recommend them for such amounts never get asked a question about the buys and they carry on as if it's not their fault that the big buys have failed even when it's clear that they themselves overestimated these buys.
"The owners go by what these scouts and data âexperts' feed them and so can't be blamed, but amazingly while the player may not be retained, the scouts and experts keep their jobs as their PR is better than the biggest PR companies."
