By Debasis Sen
What was Andre Russell doing alone at the Eden Gardens on the eve of IPL 2023 game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday? The big Jamaican was still batting in the middle against the net bowlers, long after all his teammates were back in the change room. In a bid to get back to scoring big runs, Russell is not leaving any stone unturned. Despite having already spent about an hour in the nets, he was seen batting again against the net bowlers.
Russell’s form is bothering the KKR think-tank, and he can sense it especially with players like Jason Roy, David Wiese and Litton Das all waiting for an opportunity to play. And it’s not in the IPL that Russell, who turns 35 on April 29, has struggled to show the form that made him one of the T20 game’s marquee stars for a decade.
In the Caribbean Premier League, where he played for Trinbago Knight Riders, he managed just 119 runs in 9 innings, and his six wickets came with an economy-rate of 9.45. The team finished last in the table. As did the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, who he played for in the first season of the International League T20. Russell could contribute only 196 in 9 innings, with a highest of 57, and his five wickets came while conceding nearly 11 runs an over.
He played only a small part in Melbourne Renegades reaching the Big Bash League playoffs, with 101 runs and four wickets from his four outings. Whisper it softly, but Russell certainly hasn’t looked the force of old this season.
Fortunately for Russell, with the team having won the last two matches, there is very little chance that Chandrakant Pandit, the KKR head coach, will tinker with the combination for the Hyderabad game. The veteran coach had a team meeting at the ground after the practice session. Each senior member was asked to share their views, so that everyone could get involved.
Roy did bat for a long time but there is no guarantee that he will be drafted in to the playing XI for Friday’s game.
With Eden Gardens expected to be packed to the rafters for the Boisakhi holiday fixture, the crowd would be hoping to see another thrilling Rinku Singh knock. The sort of knock that Rinku delivered under pressure was the kind that Russell routinely delivered season after season in his prime.
Dale Steyn, Hyderbad’s fast bowling coach, was seen working overtime with Umran Malik, who could enjoy what is likely to be a bouncy pitch. A cracking contest is expected in front of a huge crowd, with both teams looking to build on victories in their previous outings. Hyderabad have had a stuttering start, but their bowling attack is a potent one. Russell and others in a struggling Kolkata top order will doubtless be tested by the skill of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the height of Jansen, the raw speed of Umran and the wiles of Adil Rashid and Mayank Markande.
Despite his well-documented injury and fitness worries in recent seasons, Russell was one of the few KKR players to have a really good season in 2022, scoring 335 runs runs at a phenomenal strike-rate of 174.48. He was a touch expensive with the ball, going at 9.87 an over, but still scalped 17 wickets. KKR will hope that all the intense practice unleashes the beast-mode version of Russell, and soon.