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Andre Russell: A Case Of Talent, Lost Opportunities And Yet Another Last Chance

image-lq6p0bdxAndre Russell will retire after 2024 T20 World Cup [AP]

"Andre Russell needs to play the World Cup.” 

“Andre Russell needs to make big runs in the World Cup.” 

“Andre Russell has yet again, that big chance to make it count and that too, in a format he likes, is good at, and at a stage that matters.”

How else can the perennial West Indian fan express his passion and keenness for a man identified as a T20 star? 

Passion flows freely for the average Caribbean fan and his cricketers, especially when it comes to a format the men from the majestic islands are good at. 

Can they even be blamed? The West Indies, of the world's favourite punching bags, are two-time world champions in a format they adore and have produced world-class fighters for. We've seen the likes of Samuels, we've admired current national coach Sammy in his T20) playing days, and we've had the ultimate pleasure of the trinity of Gayle, Bravo, and Pollard destroy bowlers. 

But that's not the thing with West Indies, isn't it; there's a cricketer one after another that comes on the T20 circuit, does to bowlers what John Wick does to his enemy Hitman, and then they have fun seeing their opponents being grounded to dust.  

Don't they? Just when it seemed the above comprised the elite hit squad, so to speak, from the island nations that are as exuberant as they are enterprising, there came along Andre Russell. How do you describe him? KKR's asset? 

A Jamaican cricketer who made his presence felt in the West Indies national side from time to time, never really settling in a role that would warrant the fan and the game to see his best? 

Or could it be that Russell- the bowler destroyer, the frequent deliverer of length balls that were fast and skiddy- didn't really live up to his potential? To those among us who've been entertained by the man known for hitting sixes but also a level of inconsistency that's giant like the shots he hits, the following numbers pose a question. 

But let us see the numbers first: from 18 T20 internationals for the West Indies, which is what matters since he's back in contention for the fast-approaching World Cup, the right-hander has made 158 runs. And that's that. 

He's made these at a whopping strike rate and at an average that's under 15. You read that about as right as Tendulkar played the straight drive. If one were to resort to the aid of an adjective called concerning, then what really is concerning, as a matter of fact, is that not once has Andre Russell made a half-century for the men who don the maroon. 

It's exactly the thing that the current Rovman Powell team, one that is on a high this year, having won 7 in 10 games, would like to avoid. 

image-lq6p6597Andre Russell in action during WI vs ENG T20I [AP]

Which team, you can well understand, would like to be left marooned sans yet another trophy when it plays host and having a talent as destructive as Russell? Surely, not the West Indies, who had pathetic memories of their last campaign, circa 2022, where they got knocked out by Ireland even before they could advance to what was clearly the actual stage of the Australia-bound World Cup. 

Lest it is forgotten, their last world campaign also saw collective batting failures on the part of big names like Jason Holder and Evin Lewis, the latter, yet another dangerous cricketer and an exceptional white ball talent who's lurking god knows where. 

What's further not helping the West Indies cause are basic anomalies in the way such a talented bunch plays the format to which they truly belong. So how is that? 

For starters, bowling too many extras- a recurring phenomenon of their game doesn't keep their bowlers in good stead. In an average T20I outing, the Windies bowlers are often found guilty of offering free hits when they can be avoided. Next up, their batters collect dot balls as if a kid collects candies from a Santa event around Xmas. 

Andre Russell, 42 T20I wickets at an economy of over 9, is himself guilty of these fouls the Caribbean cricketers must truly avoid if they're to impact the mega ICC event.  

Playing spin or not playing it too well, something that gladly doesn't apply to the troika of Hetmyer, Hope and Pooran, is another concern. Gladly, the big three of the West Indies batting, not that world cricket fans who are only obsessed with Fab Four would consider them one, are likely to feature in clearly the most important and, hopefully, equally pulsating event in 2024. 

Can Andre Russell, who's bravely made himself available for the mighty tournament, pick a few lessons in technique and about staying at the wicket since there's time? Like half a year, truth be told! Who knows what he'll do or what he won't be able to. 

We remember Andre Russell, who's fighting fit at 35, for flaying Indian bowlers in that deadly semi-final knock of his at the Wankhede in the ICC T20 World Cup, 2016. The real star for the Windies triumph may have been Lendl Simmons for his glorious fifty aided by some lazy Indian fielding. 

But the man who punched Indian bowlers as if they were no more than a bag of cotton candy and not mighty impressive white ball talents (think Jadeja, Bumrah, Nehra) was Andre Russell for his unbeaten 43 off 20 odd deliveries. 

He broke the back of India's otherwise talented bowling, crushed billions of hearts and sent the medium pacers and spinners alike to several rows back on that not-so-memorable evening for Indian cricket fans. 

But that was March 2016. 

We are talking about June 2024. Surely, a thing or two would have changed about Russell, in Russell's abilities. 

He's still fast we know, but can he deliver consecutive deliveries in the block hole to torment bowlers like he did back then? A year before he committed the murder of the Indian team's hopes at the Wankhede, he was responsible for a very underappreciated blinder at the 2015 ODI World Cup knock, where he took 13 odd deliveries to score 27 unbeaten runs against Ireland. 

In that very game that the Windies still found a way to lose when they should never have let the Irish run away with it, Russell bowled his heart out to curtail the relatively easy flow of runs. Barring Gayle, who went just above five an over and took a wicket, only Russell, who has bowled 2290 deliveries in ODIs and 939 in T20Is, went for under six an over. 

So yeah, the West Indies will need the Russell of the old to turn up in the newest ICC tournament that's up ahead of us. There's little doubt about his manic powers with the bat and the breakneck speed at which he hits his runs, seldom collecting them. 

But in order for the West Indies to make the most out of yet another cricketer who's been called a T20 mercenary, one who sadly wasn't considered in the last World Cup in 2022 (which is when he performed well in the 2021 run of the event), something special is needed. 

It has to come through. Else, we could be seeing the sun setting on yet another promising and accomplished talent that one feels can still offer something meaningful to the West Indies cricket team. What do you reckon?