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KKR legend Andre Russell forced to retire from IPL? Reason revealed

Harsh Adwani

Reason for Andre Russell's IPL retirement revealed [Source: @shivanshChhab12/x.com]Reason for Andre Russell's IPL retirement revealed [Source: @shivanshChhab12/x.com]

Andre Russell’s retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL) came as a shock to many. The Jamaican star had a massive run with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) that lasted 12 years. In his IPL career, he scored 2651 runs at a massive strike rate of 174.2. His strike rate is only second to Phil Salt, who has played at 175.7, albeit in 34 innings compared to Russell’s massive 140.

While the powerful hitter may have said that he could not imagine himself playing for any other team, there seems to be more to his decision than it appears. Reports by Cricbuzz claim that Russell may have entered the auctions if the franchise hadn’t offered him the Power Coach position.

As per the report, this was a “future-proof pact for Russell”, who wanted some clarity from the franchise before the deadline to register himself for the upcoming player auctions expired. His decision to retire and join KKR’s support staff came on Sunday.

KKR also wanted to free up their purse

The reports also claimed that the team’s decision to release him may have been influenced by Chennai Super Kings. Earlier reports claiming that CSK would release Matheesha Pathirana would mean that they would enter the auctions with a purse of more than INR 40 crores. This forced KKR to revise their plans to be able to control the auctions.

Releasing Russell meant that KKR would free up INR 18 crores and take their purse value to INR 64.4 crores, despite him being valued at INR 12 crores. This is because he was retained last year in the top bracket that amounted to INR 18 crores.

KKR will enter the auctions with the highest remaining purse, which means they will be able to control the auction dynamics if they play their cards right. This will also give them the upper hand when bidding for their targeted marquee players.