Published: Dec 05, 2025, 11:43 AM (IST)
Edited: Dec 05, 2025, 11:43 AM (IST)
Former West Indies all-rounder and one of the greatest cricketers of all time, Andre Russell, explained why he decided to retire from the IPL after being released from Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the IPL 2026 mini-auction.
West Indies great Andre Russell has now joined the support staff of the Kolkata Knight Riders as a power coach and after being released by KKR. However, he will continue to play for the other franchise in different leagues.
“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 in an interview.
“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.
