Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder Andre Russell had a great time in the 2019 edition of Indian Premier League (IPL), amassing 510 runs from 13 innings at an average of 56.66 and a remarkable strike-rate of 204.81.
More than the statistics, it is Russell’s unreal ability to hit sixes at will which induces fear in the opposition camp. He had smashed as many as 52 sixes and 31 fours in last year’s IPL.
As the 13th edition of IPL progresses, cricket fans are expecting Russell to do the same and it will certainly be a challenge for the teams to combat the Caribbean swashbuckler.
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Recently, Delhi Capitals (DC) off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin asked KKR captain Dinesh Karthik “how do you bowl to Andre Russell?”
“How do you bowl to him? His miss-hit is a six with 8m clearance, decent hit 15m and a whack is out of the ground. As a captain how can an opposition bowler bowl to him?” asked Ashwin to Karthik in a YouTube show called ‘Hello Dubaiahh’ hosted by the former.
To which, Karthik replied: “First pray to God. Give him an offering. Pray that he’s in a bad mood, and then go for IPL. Then the day, the wicket, the conditions (matter).”
Karthik finds it ‘scary’ to watch Russell walking into bat as he gets the vibe of a wrestler from the latter.
“Just watching him walk in is scary. He comes in like a wrestler. What a build up he gives while doing that. He’s a brilliant character. With his muscles and all, he looks like an MMA fighter,” he added.
The KKR skipper, however, disclosed that the dynamic West Indian all-rounder is scared of everything else apart from the cricket ball.
“But he’s scared of everything. He’s scared of driving cars, or even when the bus swerves, he gets scared. He said, he’ll never be on a rollercoaster.
“Never judge a book by its cover. The only thing he’s not scared of is the ball,” Karthik said.
In the ongoing IPL, Russell has batted in only one innings against the defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) and he registered the score of 11 in that game.
