Glenn Maxwell Aims To Regain Ricky Ponting's Trust With MLC 2025 Heroics
Australia's star all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has recently retired from ODI cricket, but his bat is roaring in America's Major League Cricket (MLC) 2025. Captaining Washington Freedom, Maxwell scored an unbeaten 106 off just 49 balls against Los Angeles Knight Riders. During this, he hit 13 sixes and brought his team to a strong score of 208/5. After this, the LA Knight Riders were bundled out for just 95 runs, and Washington Freedom won the big match easily.
Initially, Maxwell's batting was slow. He scored just 11 runs in the first 15 balls, but after that he changed gears and scored the first century in a stormy fashion. After the match, he said, "I gave myself time." As a captain, you need to take the team forward. At one point I thought I was in rhythm now, and 155-160 was in my mind.”
Regrets of poor performance in IPL 2025
Maxwell also admitted that he let down his coach Ricky Ponting in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.
He said,
"In India, I was playing well, but sometimes the results didn't support me. I have let Ponting down in the last few tournaments. Punjab did not play for the Kings in the subsequent matches. Now it is expected that Washington can win another title with him in Freedom.”
Significantly, Maxwell's performance in IPL 2025 was very poor. He scored 48 runs in just 6 innings and then was ruled out of the entire tournament due to injury. In his place, Mitchell Owen was included in the Punjab Kings team. Punjab Kings, captained by Shreyas Iyer, made it all the way to the final but lost the title to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by just 6 runs—the same team Maxwell has played for in the past.
Tremendous comeback in MLC
At the beginning of the tournament, Washington Freedom suffered a crushing defeat against the San Francisco Unicorns, but after that the team made a strong comeback. In the last match, he defeated Heinrich Klaasen's team, the Seattle Orcas, and now he has reached number three in the points table. Their net run rate has also improved significantly, which can play an important role in the playoffs going forward.
It is clear from Maxwell's return that even though he has disappointed his fans in the IPL, he is all set to win back his team in MLC—and maybe even the trust of coach Ricky Ponting.