A report from ESPNcricinfo suggests KKR will release Andre Russell.
Several reports regarding retentions and releases of each team have been floating around ahead of the IPL 2025 retention deadline. However, the biggest one came this evening when ESPNcricinfo reported that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will release Andre Russell.
Russell has been one of KKR’s biggest match-winners, so the report doesn’t look believable, but the source is mostly correct with their reports. If this turns out to be true, the mega auction will be more spicy than ever.
Several teams will go after him, so KKR might not be able to use Right To Match (RTM), and Russell might end up in a different team for the first time in ten years. We look at three teams who will go hard after Andre Russell in the IPL 2025 auction.
Mumbai Indians (MI) like to have big names in their side, and when the player is as big as Russell, the interest is bound to surge. MI will most likely release Tim David and Romario Shepherd ahead of the auction and will need a solid lower middle-order batter, and if he can bowl, that’s a bonus.
Russell’s recent rise as a bowler, combined with his batting prowess, make him an ideal fit in MI setup, who should go hard after him. Russell will enjoy playing in Wankhede, where the ball comes on the bat and bowlers get extra bounce off the deck, suiting his natural lengths.
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Punjab Kings (PBKS) will need to fill several slots, and one of them is of pace-bowling all-rounder. They will release Sam Curran and Chris Woakes and will require a player of similar kind, and Russell is better than any other foreign player in this category.
He will be an enforcer with the ball and a perfect player to bat in the middle order with Liam Livingstone, Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma. He can also act as their captain, given his vast experience playing different T20 leagues over the years.
Despite having a quality squad, one area where Rajasthan Royals (RR) were weak is having a quality pace-bowling all-rounder who can bat at No.6 and also contribute with the ball. They tried Jason Holder and also played Rovman Powell as a batter but didn’t fetch ample success.
Russell is someone who has done it time and again and can do the same for RR. In fact, he is the best guy to do it and provide the much-needed balance to the side.
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