The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder, Andre Russell has always been a crucial cog for the franchise for quite a few years. But he hasn’t had the best of times in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. During the match between KKR and Chennai Super Kings at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Russell sustained a hamstring injury and since then he has been warming the bench.
As a replacement after KKR opted for the likes of Tim Southee and Tim Seifert, after which they decided to include veteran Bangladesh all-rounder, Shakib Al Hasan. Shakib hasn’t let his team down, picking up a couple of wickets at decent economy rates. In the meantime, Andre Russell is all set to make his comeback after the injury layoff. He posted a video on Instagram to send in a strong message.
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Earlier, former Indian opener, Gautam Gambhir said that KKR shouldn’t include Russell back into the playing eleven if the Jamaican isn’t able to bowl. Gambhir, who captained KKR to IPL titles in 2012 and 2014 respectively, said that Shakib hasn’t done anything to face the axe going forward.
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As per the quotes in ESPNCricinfo, Gautam Gambhir explained, “No, if he doesn’t bowl, he doesn’t come in. What wrong has Shakib done? For me, if Russell is fit and he’s willing to do deliver in both the departments, batting, and bowling, I’d pick him. But if he says that he can only bat and can’t bowl, then I’d probably go with Shakib because you need the sixth bowling option against a batting lineup like RCB.”
In IPL 2021, Andre Russell has scored only 183 runs from 10 matches at an average of 26.14 and a strike rate of 152.50. His top score of a half-century came against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
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With the ball in hand, Andre Russell has managed to take 11 wickets but conceded at an economy rate of 9.89. On Thursday, KKR beat the Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 86 runs at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
