Sehwag’s recent Maxwell rant adds another chapter to long-time beef which goes back to IPL 2017: ‘I texted him to say…’

Virender Sehwag is no stranger to controversy, and is known for his outspoken personality. The former India player recently fired shots at Glenn Maxwell and Liam Livingstone, accusing the pair of lacking the drive and determination to perform in the IPL. The pair have been in poor form in the ongoing IPL 2025 season, with Maxwell playing for PBKS and Livingstone for RCB.

Speaking to Cricbuzz, Sehwag slammed the pair and stated that they just come to the IPL for holiday, and then leave after the season ends. “I feel like Maxwell and Livingstone’s hunger is gone. Yeh yaha holiday manane aate hai, holiday banaakar chale jaate hain. (they just come here for a holiday). They arrive, have their fun, and leave. There's no visible desire to fight for the team,” he said.

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Virender Sehwag vs Glenn Maxwell: Ugly beef which goes back to IPL 2017

Maxwell and Sehwag in particular have a long history, and their beef goes back to the 2017 IPL season, when the Aussie all-rounder was Punjab skipper. During that period, Sehwag was the franchise’s mentor. According to Maxwell, the India legend had a dictator-type approach and made the main decisions alone.

Maxwell’s book ‘Maxwell-the showman’ was published in 2024, and the 36-year-old opened a can of worms on his time with Sehwag. “We discussed how the team would operate, and I thought we were all on the same page. How wrong I was,” he wrote in the book.

“Our coach, J Arunkumar, was coming in for his first season, and it became clear to him that he was coach in name only, with Sehwag pulling the strings. When it came to selection, I thought it might be a good idea to bring the coaches into a WhatsApp group to make our decisions. Everyone agreed to this and shared their teams, with the exception of Sehwag. At the end of the process, he made it clear that he would pick the starting XI, end of story.”

Maxwell also gave an example, where Ishant Sharma was caught in the middle of Sehwag’s approach. “Take poor old Ishant Sharma. At one point he was told not to bother coming to our game that day in Mumbai, having not been picked in a while. We had several other local bowlers, plus the Kiwi quick Matt Henry had just come into the side. Doing the right thing, Ishant did a gym session and came along anyway, bowling at full pace in the warm-up. Then Eoin Morgan was told that he would be a new inclusion that day, taking the last overseas player spot from Matt. Morgs protested that it wasn’t fair to drop Matt after only playing one game, so they rejigged again, left out Morgs, and both Henry and Ishant played,” he wrote in his book.

Punjab missed out on the playoffs that season, and finished in fifth position. The relationship between Maxwell and Sehwag came out at the forefront after Punjab’s final league game, as they were thrashed by Rising Pune Supergiant. Maxwell had volunteered for the post-match press conference, but instead Sehwag appeared and called his captain a ‘big disappointment’.

Maxwell even wrote about the incident on his book, expressing his dismay at Sehwag’s behaviour. “I texted him to say how much it hurt to read those comments and added that he had lost a fan in me for the way he had conducted himself. Sehwag’s response was simple: “Don’t need fan like you.” We never spoke again,” he wrote.

“I knew my time was at an end and told the owners as much: if Sehwag was going to stick around, they were making a mistake and not to bother with me. He only lasted one more season,” he added.

Maxwell departed Punjab after the 2017 season, and had a second stint in 2020. He is back once again for a third stint for the Preity Zinta co-owned side, and has once again failed to justify his price tag.