George Bailey said swashbuckling all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has disappointed himself in the ongoing Indian Premier League, even as the Kings XI Punjab captain remains optimistic about the team's chances of making it to the play-offs despite suffering seven losses from nine matches.
Having scored just 62 runs from five matches in this year's IPL, Maxwell is certainly not looking like the player who was instrumental in Australia's World Cup triumph in March.
"He (Maxwell) absolutely has disappointed himself. The other thing about Maxy is that he plays a unique brand of cricket and sometimes it does not come off as we would like," Bailey said.
The Punjab captain said Maxwell took a while to adapt to the different playing conditions in India, which are very different from Australia.
"He's come from the World Cup and it took a while for him to adapt. Conditions are different in India and Australia," he said.
Bailey also believes that external pressure tends to get the better of Maxwell at times.
"He has played enough cricket here and, I think it is the outside world that puts more pressure on him rather than anything else. I am sure he will do far better in the coming games," he said.
Even after losing seven of their nine games, Bailey expects his team, which is languishing at the bottom, to make the play-offs if they are able to perform better in their remaining five games.
"There is still plenty to play for and we hope to still make it," he said.
Unable to get the team's combination right in this season, Bailey is taking inspiration from Delhi Daredevils show last year, who failed to get going but are a much improved side this year.
"We are disappointed. But we have the team to turn it around. This is a unique competition. You can chose your teams and then go about it. We have not got the right combination. It can happen to any team. Look at Delhi, they did not do well last season but this year they have done better. There is still plenty to play for and we hope to still make it."
Bailey blamed the top-order for the team's failure and claimed that the bowling has been good compared to last season.
"Our top order batting failure has been the worry for us. The bowling has been pretty good. Last year, bowling was our weakest link. It is disappointing as far as the batting is concerned, but I am confident it will come good," he said.
