New Delhi: Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell recently made a surprising revelation as he recalled getting blocked by his Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) teammate Virat Kohli on Instagram. Maxwell revealed Kohli blocked him after he mocked the Team India superstar’s shoulder injury during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia in 2017.
Maxwell recalled the incident during his appearance on the Willow Talk Podcast. The Australia all-rounder said Kohli was one of the first players to message him and welcome him to the team after he was bought by RCB in the IPL 2021 auction. Maxwell was made to feel at home at RCB by Kohli and the two developed a great bond.
However, Maxwell was left surprised when he went to Instagram to look for Kohli’s Instagram account to follow him. The Aussie star couldn’t find Kohli’s account and was left wondering why he was not able to spot the most followed cricketer in the world.
“When I knew that I was going to RCB, Virat was the first guy to message me and welcome me to the team. When I turned up for the pre-IPL training camp, we obviously got chatting and spent a fair bit of time training together as you do. So I go to his social media, to follow him. Did not even think about it before that. Never really crossed my mind. I was like ‘I cannot find him’,” Maxwell said on the podcast.
Maxwell was then told by someone that Kohli had probably blocked him on social media following his comments on the Team India batter’s shoulder injury during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2017. Maxwell had little idea of the incident and decided to ask Kohli if it was indeed true and that he had blocked him on Instagram.
Kohli admitted to have blocked him on Instagram due to Maxwell’s controversial comments on his injury. However, the India star unblocked his RCB teammate and the duo went on to become good friends while playing for the franchise.
“Then I went and asked him ‘Have you blocked me on Instagram?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah probably. It was when you mocked me during that Test match. I was like ‘yeah, that’s fair enough’. So yeah, he ended up unblocking me, and we became great friends after that,” Maxwell added.
Will RCB retain Glenn Maxwell?
Maxwell has so far played 52 matches for RCB in his IPL career and has amassed 1266 runs at an average of 28.77 and an impressive strike rate of 159.25. The Australian all-rounder has smashed 12 fifties for the team and has been one of their impact players over the last few years. However, it remains to be seen if he will be retained by the franchise ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.
As per reports, RCB are certain to give Kohli the top retention slot of Rs 18 crore. However, the franchise might not retain any other capped player. They are reportedly considering retaining uncapped pacers Yash Dayal and Vijay Kumar Vyshak for Rs 4 crore each.
