West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell is widely regarded as one of the greatest T20 players of all time. He has won numerous matches single-handedly for his country and franchises across the world.

As the 15th edition of IPL draws closer, cricket fans are once again expecting Russell to make an impact. He was one of the four players retained by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ahead of the mega auctions, despite his struggles with form and fitness in the last two seasons.

Russell, who has won two Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards in the IPL, was retained by KKR for INR 12 crore. It will be his 8th season with the Kolkata-based franchise and he intends to silence the critics by killing negativity with kindness.

"I am proud to be back. With this badge over my heart. During the last few seasons, you know, there has been a lot of talks. A lot has been said about me. But, what I will do to silence them is perform. You know, kill the negativity with kindness. And do what I do best in the middle. With the bat and with the ball, take brilliant catches," Russell said in a video posted on KKR’s Twitter account.

"You know, my mindset is in the right place now. KKR has shown confidence in me. My ambition is all about making sure I do whatever it takes, whatever is necessary to make sure KKR gets over the line. It is all about having fun and enjoying every moment once I enter the field during the big games. During the big games, you get to showcase yourself and dominate in those games as well," he added.

Speaking about his approach for the new season, Andre Russell said, "I want to free myself, do what I want to do, and make sure that I am happy. And if I fail, I go back to the drawing board, I will put in the work, assess where I went wrong in the last game, figure what I can do better and execute that in the next match. Simple."

Kolkata Knight Riders will open their IPL 2022 campaign against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on March 26.