Michael Vaughan, former England skipper said that managing Andre Russell is a tricky job, as he can be a match-winner on his day, but his lack of fitness gives the team a bad look.
Needing 44 runs in the final two overs, Kolkata Knight Riders star-batsman Andre Russell decided not to take a single off Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer Mohammed Siraj so that he can keep the strike. Andre Russell struggled to hit a boundary in the penultimate over, and could only muster one single on the final ball.
Michael Vaughan: It’s A Bad Look For KKR Who Are Not Electric On Field Besides Having Andre Russell Struggling With His Body
It means KKR needed 43 to win in the final over, thus making the task an impossible one. KKR lost the IPL 2021 encounter by 38 runs. After the match, questions were raised on Andre Russell’s fitness, as the batsman did not try to run doubles in the 19th over.
During a discussion on Cricbuzz, former England captain Michael Vaughan said that managing Andre Russell is a tricky job, as he can be a match-winner on his day, but Michael Vaughan reckons that his lack of fitness gives the team a bad look.
“When you got player like Andre Russell, who has been a superstar, but on the field, when the ball is coming to him, he is always using his feet. He is obviously someone who cannot go down. It’s a very clever and careful aspect which Eoin Morgan will have to manage,” Michael Vaughan said.
“When he is at his best, he is great. But when you see him on the field, and when is bowling, he appears to be struggling. While batting he is not taking the twos. He needed to take the twos in the 19th over. Because you want him back on strike. Very difficult to manage for Brendon McCullum and Eoin Morgan,” Michael Vaughan added.
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“I think in modern-day cricket, you need 9-10 players in a team who are absolutely agile on the field. But when you see KKR on the field, they don’t look electric. It’s a difficult one. How can you leave at Russell. But when you look at him on the field, and when he is bowling. it’s a bad look for the team when you got a player who is really struggling with his body,” Michael Vaughan signed off.
Andre Russell is known for his hitting abilities, but on Sunday, the all-rounder for the Caribbean failed to strike as KKR needed 44 off two overs to win, against RCB. He denied a single at the start of the penultimate over bowled by Mohammad Siraj and then did not get any boundaries in the over.
That meant KKR needed an impossible 43 to win in the final over. Eventually, the Shahrukh Khan-owned team lost the match by 38 runs, falling to their second defeat in this year’s tournament.
Andre Russell Struggled Again As KKR Lost 2 Games In A Row
Royal Challengers Bangalore ended their Chennai leg of IPL 2021 with a hat-trick of wins, beating Kolkata Knight Riders on the back of explosive half-centuries from Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers. Glenn Maxwell made a 49-ball 78, his second fifty of the season, while AB de Villiers clubbed an unbeaten 34-ball 76.
Between them, they hit 18 fours and six sixes to take the Royal Challengers to 204 for 4 after Virat Kohli chose to bat in the afternoon game, and that total proved 38 runs too much for the Knight Riders.
Andre Russell scored only 117 runs averaging a pathetic 13 in 10 IPL games in IPL 2020 besides picking 6 scalps. In IPL 2021, so far he has picked 6 scalps including a fiver averaging 14.16 and scored 45 runs averaging a dismal 15 at a substandard strike rate of 112.5 in stark contrast to IPL 2019 where he averaged 56.66 and his strike rate was a phenomenal 204.81.
Andre Russell muscled 31 off 20 balls at the back end, but the West Indian’s expensive bowling spell at the death – he conceded 38 runs in two overs – ended up as his more decisive contribution. Andre Russell was the highest scorer for KKR and the fifth-highest overall in IPL 2019 with an aggregate of 510 runs in 13 innings at a phenomenal strike rate of 204.81.
Royal Challengers Bangalore 204 for 4 (Maxwell 78, de Villiers 76*, Chakravarthy 2-39) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 166 for 8 (Russell 31, Jamieson 3-41, Harshal 2-17, Chahal 2-34) by 38 runs