Russell called 2017 his toughest year after he was banned for a year for doping-code violation.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder Andre Russell who is in good form this Indian Premier League (IPL 2021), recalled the worst year of his career in 2017 when he was banned for a year for doping-code violation.
Russell also revealed how even though people tried to pull him down, he motivated himself with his incident and came back strongly.
“To be honest, that year was the toughest year. When you're doing well, sometimes people look for any reason to try and get it down. But that actually made me stronger. You know Venky (Mysore) reached out to me, said they just want me to have a peaceful year to relax my head and to actually focus on cricket,” he told KKR.in.
When asked about not playing the game for a year, the all-rounder said, “Being away from the game for a year, you know a lot of people doubted that I would come back and do the same thing. And I say you know what, this is the big moment.”
“And good players shine in the big games. Three months before the ban lifted, I went on beast mode, getting stronger, losing weight. I came back in 2018 in a good season for KKR,” he added.
The 33-year-old made a comeback in IPL 2018 and scored 316 runs with the highest score of 88 not out. But next year in IPL 2019, the right-hand explosive batsman scored 510 runs with four half-centuries at a strike rate of 204.8.
The two-time champions who have 2 wins in 7 matches this season are on the sixth spot of this year’s points table. The all-rounder will be back in action as KKR take on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Monday (3 May) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
(With KKR.in inputs)