The West Indies cricket team is currently in New Zealand for a T20I and Test series starting from Friday, November 27. When the team was selected to travel Down Under, star Caribbean all-rounder Andre Russell had deemed himself unavailable to play.
The 32-year-old cricketer is now going to represent the Colombo Kings in the inaugural edition of the Lankan Premier League in Sri Lanka. Russell has already traveled to Sri Lanka and this was not known to the West Indian coach Phil Simmons.
Simmons expressed shock to know that Andre Russell is going to play the T20 tournament instead of appearing for his country.
Simmons told ESPNCricInfo, "That's news to me. I haven't spoken to him since we came down here to New Zealand. He was at the IPL and I haven't spoken to him since then."
He was asked about the reason why Russell has opted for LPL and the WI coach had no answer as he himself isn't sure about the reason.
"I didn't know he was in Sri Lanka. I can't answer your question about that until I know what the whole situation is," Simmons said.
Andre Russell has had his fair share of injuries in the IPL and had to miss a few games for the Kolkata Knight Riders. He will be hoping to remain fit for the entire LPL season and perform for the Colombo Kings.
(With inputs from ESPNCricInfo)
