India Great Tears Into KKR Over Andre Russell Release: "Don't Think It's A Good Call"
Andre Russell, who won the IPL MVP award in 2015 and 2019 with the Purple and Gold, had been a central figure for KKR since joining the franchise in 2014.
Former India captain Anil Kumble feels that the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) should have retained all-rounder Andre Russell heading into next month's Indian Premier League (IPL) auction. KKR have the biggest purse among all 10 teams at Rs 64.30 crore after releasing non-performing assets in Venkatesh Iyer (Rs 23.75 crore) and Russell (Rs 12 crore). However, Kumble pointed out that even if they had retained the Jamaican all-rounder, their purse would still have been the largest.
"I think a good and a bad call. Andre Russell wasn't the same over the last couple of seasons for KKR, the way he started off, but at the same time, if you look back at all the releases that they have made and the kind of money that they are going to go with into the auction, I don't think it's a good call in that sense," Kumble said during a discussion on Star Sports.
"Andre Russell at Rs 12 crore, they could have still held on, because he is someone who can certainly win you matches on his day, even now. You could have backed him up with somebody from the auction, now that there are a few releases in Glenn Maxwell and Liam Livingstone. You could have retained Russell and still gone into the auction with the maximum purse," he added.
Russell, who won the IPL MVP award in 2015 and 2019 with the Purple and Gold, had been a central figure for KKR since joining the franchise in 2014.
The retained players of the three-time champions have a core group of players, which includes a blend of exciting young talent and experienced campaigners such as Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, and Angkrish Raghuvanshi.
Reaffirming the team's philosophy of building a cohesive squad by combining promising young players with established international stars, KKR's retentions highlight the franchise's continued commitment to nurturing talent while maintaining a strong competitive edge for the upcoming season.
Meanwhile, here is the list of retained players for KKR for the upcoming season:
Retained Players: Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy
Available Slots: 13 (including 6 Overseas slots).
(With ANI Inputs)
Kolkata Knight Riders
Andre Russell