The West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell has finally opened up about his retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL) ahead of 2026 mini-auction. After 12 long years with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Russell was released by the franchise this year which came as an ultimate shock to the fans.
In a recent interview with Cricbuzz, Russell explained the reason behind his decision. He talked about the immense demands of performing as an all-rounder and emphasised on the expectations of consistently delivering with both bat and ball throughout the season. Russell also clarified that he never considered specializing only as a batter, as his batting and bowling complement each other, and he couldn’t envision contributing in just one role.
“Definitely. It is based on the number of games and the travel. You have to make sure that you recover as well as possible to stay fresh and manage your body, manage practice sessions and your workload in the gym. You definitely need to practise, you need to hit the gym, but also make sure not to do too much. With a big league like the IPL, it’s always challenging for me as an all-rounder. And I can only speak on behalf of myself, because to bat, bowl and then make sure that you do some catching and fielding stuff – it’s always challenging. I just think this league is so big that you always want to make sure that your best performance is always at hand,” Russell told Cricbuzz.
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“I have never thought about that, because I think my batting complements my bowling and my bowling complements my batting. I always look forward to bowling at least two overs in a game. I think if I’m bowling well, then my batting will automatically flow and that’s very important for me. If I was just a batter from the beginning of my career, then I would maybe think along those lines in terms of my career and everything, but I couldn’t see myself playing as just an impact player or batting only and smashing sixes. I have to be fair to what I enjoy doing, which is batting and bowling both,” he added.
In his overall career of IPL, Russell has played 140 matches amassing 2,65 runs with a stunning strike rate of 174.18 – the highest for any player facing 1,000 balls. While bowling, Russell has bagged 123 wickets with an average of 23.28.
