He has not played a lot of cricket lately.
West Indies All-rounder Andre Russell might be onto something ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) superstar did not feature in Trinbago Knight Riders’ fixture against St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots on August 17. The all-rounder is usually a part of the playing XI. But his absence from the team has raised concerns whatsoever. The Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) is a sister franchise of the Kolkata Knight Riders, the franchise which plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The trade window for the IPL is just taking centre stage, and this move might raise a few eyebrows.
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The 37-year-old has not been playing a lot of cricket lately. He announced his retirement from the international format after the second T20I against Australia at home in July 2025. He played a solitary Test match in his career, and also featured in 56 ODIs. However, T20 cricket remains to be his forte. Post retirement, the West Indies has expressed his desire to stay associated with the franchise leagues in the world in order to stay in touch with the game. But his recent exclusion from KKR’s sister franchise in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is what is raising concerns.
In 2025 alone, Russell has featured in three T20Is. But on the flip side, his T20 career has been prolific. After finishing the IPL in May 2025, the destructive all-rounder played in the Major League Cricket (MLC) for the Los Angeles Knight Riders (LAKR). He performed decently well in the league, but the games dried up yet again. He is now featuring in the CPL after a brief period following his retirement from the shortest format of the game internationally. Any franchise would love to have a player like Russell in their ranks. But he will have to keep playing the game at full throttle, which doesn’t seem to be happening a lot.
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Andre Russell is basically all the qualities of a quality all-rounder put into one. When one thinks of an all-rounder, the figure would be very close to what Russell actually is. He is one of the most destructive batters going around, and can also walk the talk with ball in hand. To add to that, Russell can bowl in the powerplay. And that is not it! The West Indian all-rounder also knows his way around death bowling and has been used multiple times by his skipper for the same in the IPL as well as other leagues.
At KKR, the destructive all-rounder fills an important void. His presence is enough to keep the bowlers and fielders on their toes. There have been many occasions when the 37-year-old has taken the game away from the opposition in a matter of minutes. But since destruction is his forte, he needs a franchise that will understand that he won’t be successful every single time. The Knight Riders have been that franchise for most of his career, and fans would like him to continue for the three-time IPL champions.
What separates Russell from other all-rounders is his ability to bring out vast options in his game. Though he can take the game away from the opposition with the bat in hand, Russell is no less with the ball. He can ace yorkers at the death and is often known for his round-the-wicket yorkers to right-handers. His sense of creating angles is second to none and he has the ability to deceive the batters with supreme ease. Russell has played in 12 franchise leagues around the world and has created an impact in each of them.
