Since the past couple of months, Windies all-rounder Andre Russell has been under the third eye. Also, he had been marred by injuries which saw him in and out of the Windies team. However, ahead of the first T20I against India in Florida, Russell had ruled himself out of the first two T20Is and feeling discomfort in his knee.
However, the star all-rounder has made his appearance in the ongoing Global T20 Canada League following his statement. Consequently, it has irked the Twitter world who further lashed out at Russell.
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In the meantime, he has received backing from T20I skipper Carlos Brathwaite.
In the twelfth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Russell had played some brilliant knocks which eventually saw him winning games for the Dinesh Karthik-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL 2019.
However, Russell couldn’t continue his domination at the ODI showpiece. He had a mixed run at the 2019 World Cup. Before his knee gave up, he had represented the Caribbean team in four matches before being ruled out of the World Cup.
After leaving the World Cup mid-way, Russell had undergone a rehabilitation programme. However, ahead of the three-match T20Is series, Russell has informed Cricket West Indies (CWI) about his unavailability.
Russell faced wrath on Twitter:

The Jamaican star had played with pain at the ODI showpiece which further saw him limping during bowling on a couple of times in the United Kingdom (UK).
So much so, he had played for Vancouver Knights in the second edition of the Global T20 Canada league.
The 31-year-old Russell had made developed pain in his knee during his first outing for the Knights. Interestingly, he had angered Twitterati after a couple of hours when he batted at the number five position.
However, he didn’t bowl, but he had equally failed with the bat after returning pavilion without scoring a run.
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Meanwhile, Brathwaite has defended Russell while saying they’ve had witnessed him playing with pain in the 50-over circuit.
Hours after his announcement, Russell had faced criticism for his unavailability, for the Windies team
Here is how Twitter responded:
So Andre Russell pulled out of the T20Is against India due to injury, but there he is playing for Vancouver Knights, three hours later.
As much as I understand the player's POV, pulling out to play in another league and giving excuses when it comes to the country is just sad.
— Sarah Waris (@swaris16) August 2, 2019
Today news:
Andre Russell out of India series due to injury.
Andre Russell currently playing in the GLT20 league.
— CricBeat (@Cric_beat) August 2, 2019
Hang on, Andre Russell not fit enough to play T20 for Windies v India, but fit enough to play #GT2019…..? #WIvInd
— Innocent Bystander (@InnoBystander) August 2, 2019
Money is the discomfort. https://t.co/LAKOQ9JhC0
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) August 2, 2019
Andre Russell out of India t20's which starts tomorrow bcoz of injury but he's playing today in GLT20 ??? Only Windies players can do this magic.
— arfan (@Im__Arfan) August 2, 2019
I hope someday soon someone will speak to Andre Russell, ask him about his plans once for all.
You can't make yourself unavailable for your National team and then play for a franchise on the same day
It's beyond my understanding, really. Ridiculous. #INDvWI #GlobalT20Canada— Abhishek Barthur (@imabhi27) August 3, 2019
https://twitter.com/hkseal/status/1157506670727061506
Andre Russell has been ruled out of WI T20 series against India due to injury.
But today he is playing in Canada T20 league. What a joke. @sachin_rt @SGanguly99
— Prasoon Mishra (@prasoonkrmishra) August 2, 2019
8.30 PM
Andre Russell ruled out T20I series vs India due to injury.9.30 PM
Andre Russell playing in Canada T20 tonight— Merin Kumar ™ (@merin_kumar) August 2, 2019
It is rather strange that Andre Russell was declared unfit for the West Indies vs India T20Is, yet played for Vancouver Knights in the Global T20 in Canada. https://t.co/8f8rn7Voum
— Blacks in Whites (@BlaqsInCricket) August 3, 2019