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.
SVL
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BVB
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Match Abandoned
ROR
68/5
KNK
69/4
Kakinada Kings beat Royals of Rayalaseema by 1 runs
TBW
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VSS
–
ROR
–
AMR
–
SKA
219/7
TKR
231/5
Trinbago Knight Riders beat St Kitts and Nevis Patriots by 12 runs
ABF
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SLK
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SDS
184/10
PD
138/10
South Delhi Superstarz beat Purani Delhi 6 by 46 runs
NDT
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NDS
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SDSW
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NDSW
58/2
Match Abandoned due to rain
EDRW
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CDQW
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NOR
137/7
SWE
136/9
Norway beat Sweden by 3 wickets
SWE
204/5
HUN
125/8
Sweden won by 79 runs
NOR
172/8
HUN
140/8
Norway beat Hungary by 32 runs
THCC
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MRSC
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THCC
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KHTC
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MRSC
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KSV
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KHTC
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MTV
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KSV
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MTV
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JZ-W
94/5
LL-W
74/2
Lavender Lionesses Women beat Jinx Zagreb Women by 5 runs (D/L) method
JZ-W
25/1
LL-W
58/2
MATCH ABANDONED
JZ-W
34/1
LL-W
31/2
Jinx Zagreb Women beat Lavender Lionesses Women by 9 wickets
MID
129/10
YOR
130/3
Yorkshire beat Middlesex by 7 wickets
KENT
315/8
LAN
293/10
Kent beat Lancashire by 22 runs
SOM
309/8
BB
310/7
Birmingham Bears beat Somerset by 3 wickets
NOR
295/8
SUSS
297/3
Sussex beat Northamptonshire by 7 wickets
LEI
261/10
ESS
321/8
Essex beat Leicestershire by 60 runs
GLAM
278/9
NOT
282/3
Nottinghamshire beat Glamorgan by 7 wickets
WOR
237/8
GLO
240/4
Gloucestershire beat Worcestershire by 6 wickets
SURR
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HAM
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BAN
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IND
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Match Called off
KRMPS
80/7
NCMI
86/2
NCM Investment beat ACE KRM Panthers by 8 wickets
TCC
102/6
CEC-A
165/4
CECC beat Tally Rangers by 63 runs
JJ
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KUMS
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BNC
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GUJCC
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MGD
174/6
BNB
175/7
Bengaluru Blasters beat Mangalore Dragons by 3 wickets
MYW
167/7
SML
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Match Abandoned due to rain
MYW
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BNB
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GBM
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HBT
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IAI
110/10
MAT
145/8
Majees Titans beat IAS Invincibles by 35 runs
ROS
132/4
MUT
129/10
Royal Oman Stallions Won by 6 wickets
YSG
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MAT
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RNC
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IAI
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MAO
171/3
NOS
114/10
Manchester Originals won by 57 runs
BIP
131/3
LOS
126/6
Birmingham Phoenix beat London Spirit by 7 wickets
SOB
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OVI
–
MOW-W
117/5
NOS-W
112/7
Manchester Originals Women beat Northern Superchargers Women by 5 runs
BIP-W
76/10
LSW-W
164/6
London Spirit Women beat Birmingham Phoenix Women by 88 runs
SBW-W
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OIW-W
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CHK
139/8
AS-A
121/10
Chicago Kingsmen beat Adelaide Strikers Academy by 18 runs
NTS
127/8
HHA
125/10
Northern Territory Strike beat Hobart Hurricanes Academy by 2 wickets
PSA
126/5
BANA
123/9
Perth Scorchers Academy won by 5 wickets
NEP
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MS-A
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NTS
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ACOM
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MR-A
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PS
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MEMA
225/2
KASS
139/9
Meerut Mavericks beat Kanpur Superstars by 86 runs
KARS
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GOLS
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NOSK
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LUF
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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.
