Andre Russell made his presence felt in the first game of the Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2024. With KKR in trouble, the dynamic all-rounder unleashed flurry of sixes against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens.
Former India player Virender Sehwag, who has been critical of Russell’s batting display, paid a special tribute to the West Indies player.
Russell scored an unbeaten 64 runs off 25 balls, laced with 7 sixes and 1 four. The two-time champions accumulated 208/7 in 20 overs after being invited to bat first by Pat Cummins.
Andre Russell was a walking wicket in the past two seasons and there was speculations of the franchise releasing him ahead of the Indian Premier League 2024 but the management stuck with him.
He didn’t let the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s bowlers to put him under pressure and went berserk from the start. Sehwag was pleased to see brutal hitting.
“Na Dareey.. Na Gym Kare.Russel naam hai beta..Chakke ki baarish kardoon jab dil kare.Clean ball striking,” he wrote on X.
Rinku started from where he left in the previous season and slammed 23 runs off 15 balls, with the help of 3 fours. He added 80 runs with Russell.
KKR are looking for a strong outing in the ongoing edition, following their miserable performances in 2022 and 2023. Gautam Gambhir has been brought back as mentor and he knows how to get the best out of Sunil Narine and Russell.
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