Glenn Maxwell will have a chance to further his leadership ambitions next month, having been appointed captain of Indian Premier League club Kings XI Punjab.
Maxwell will be one of three Australians leading franchises in the lucrative Twenty20 cricket league, joining national captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner.
Warner led Sunrisers Hyderabad to the IPL title last year, while Indian icon MS Dhoni has been forced to hand the reins to Smith at Rising Pune Supergiants.
The prospect of Maxwell, who is in the mix to be recalled for the third Test that starts on Thursday, captaining his country in the absence of Smith and Warner is currently unthinkable.
But a year ago it wasn't nearly as absurd.
Maxwell was named Australia's ODI player of the year at the Allan Border medal night in 2016, when he spoke of his leadership aspirations.
"I really want to, later down the track ... lead teams on the field and show I'm really good tactically, not just with the bat but also as a captain," Maxwell said at the time.
"He (Melbourne Stars coach Stephen Fleming) has been the guy I've been talking to a lot about ... leadership, perception and all that sort of stuff.
"Leadership is something that can come in a range of different ways. It can be actions, how you conduct yourself on or off the field."
Maxwell's stocks proceeded to plummet. The allrounder was dropped from Australia's ODI side then botched an attempt to move states from Victoria to NSW.
He was left out of Victoria's Sheffield Shield side at the start of the year then publicly rebuked by Smith for critiquing Matthew Wade's captaincy at the Bushrangers.
However, the 28-year-old was included in Australia's 16-man Test squad for the tour of India and he could be added to the XI next week.
National selectors will be forced to make at least one change following Mitch Marsh's shoulder injury.
"We may go for a spinning-allrounder ... we haven't seen the pitch in Ranchi," chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns said.
Playing under Maxwell at Pujab, who collected the wooden spoon last year, will be Shaun Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Indians Murali Vijay and Wriddhiman Saha plus South Africa maestro Hashim Amla.
Share
