He scored only 167 runs and scalped eight wickets in the IPL 2025.
Star all-rounder Andre Russell may struggle to retain his place in the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) squad for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. Though the 37-year-old has been brilliant with the ball so far in the ongoing Major League Cricket (MLC) 2025, he has continued his poor batting form since the IPL 2025.
The Los Angeles Knight Riders (LAKR) player has shown stunning form with the ball, to scalp eight wickets, including consecutive three-wicket hauls against the Seattle Orcas and Texas Super Kings, in the MLC 2025 so far. But he has failed to put an end to his struggles with the bat. Russell has scored only seven runs in five matches so far. His latest batting stats reads as 0(2), 1(5), 4(4), and 2(8).
The all-rounder also endured a similar season for the IPL 2024 champions, KKR, this season. He batted eight times in 13 matches and scored only 167 runs. His only notable performance came against the Rajasthan Royals as he notched up an unbeaten 57-run knock off 25 balls. This was the only fifty-plus score of the all-rounder in the IPL 2025. Russell, who is mostly known for his big-hitting abilities, also managed to hit only 14 sixes in the tournament. However, he contributed with his other skill to scalp eight wickets for the team in 13 league-stage matches.
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KKR also had a dismal season as they failed to retain their title and finished the IPL 2025 in eighth place. Before the mega auction, the Knights retained their veteran stars Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, alongside youngsters like Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, and Ramandeep Singh. But with the continuation of the struggling batting form, the Windies finisher might find it hard to be retained by the franchise ahead of IPL 2026.
After being put into bat first by the Knights, skipper Faf du Plessis’ cameo of 12 runs off five balls and a composed 38-run knock from Smit Patel provided a solid foundation to the Texas Super Kings’ innings. Then a fiery 45-ball-70 from Shubham Ranjane and Donovan Ferreira’s blazing 43 runs off 21 balls at a blistering strike rate of 204.76, powered them to 196/8. Apart from Russell, all-rounder Shadley van Schalkwyk also bagged a three-wicket haul.
However, the LAKR batting lineup once again failed to get going in the chase. Captain Jason Holder’s 17-ball-26 was the only highlight of LAKR’s batting. Opener Unmukt Chand and Schalkwyk also contributed with a run-a-ball 30 and 13(8) runs, respectively. Eventually, they lost the match by 52 runs. The Super Kings also defeated LAKR in their previous MLC 2025 fixture by 57 runs.
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