Caribbean all-rounder Andre Russell has shared why he chose to retire from the Indian Premier League (IPL). After he was released by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ahead of the IPL 2026 mini-auction, the power-hitter decided to step away from the league as a player.
In an interview with Cricbuzz, Russell explained how tough it had become to manage the workload of the world’s biggest T20 league. He said, “Definitely. It is based on the number of games and the travel. You have to make sure that you recover as well as possible to stay fresh and manage your body, manage practice sessions and your workload in the gym. You definitely need to practise, you need to hit the gym, but also make sure not to do too much. With a big league like the IPL, it’s always challenging for me as an all-rounder. And I can only speak on behalf of myself, because to bat, bowl and then make sure that you do some catching and fielding stuff – it’salways challenging. I just think this league is so big that you always want to make sure that your best performance is always at hand.”
He also shared that he wanted to make an impact with both bat and ball. “I have never thought about that, because I think my batting complements my bowling and my bowling complements my batting… I couldn’t see myself playing as just an impact player or batting only and smashing sixes. I have to be fair to what I enjoy doing, which is batting and bowling both,” Russell said.
Though he has retired from the IPL, Russell will continue his association with KKR as a power coach while playing in other leagues.
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