Andre Russell in IPL 2025 (Source: AFP)
Former Indian player Anil Kumble has questioned the Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) decision to release star all-rounder Andre Russell ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. Speaking on Star Sports, Kumble said that KKR should have held on to Russell, especially since the franchise would still have entered the auction with the biggest purse among all ten teams even after retaining him.
KKR released nine players this season, including Russell and Venkatesh Iyer. They also traded Mayank Markande to the Mumbai Indians for his base price of ₹30 lakh. After these moves, the franchise now holds a massive purse of ₹64.30 crore (the highest going into the auction).
Anil Kumble slams KKR for releasing Andre Russell
Kumble, however, believes that despite Russell’s dip in form over the last two seasons, he remains a match-winner capable of turning games single-handedly.
"I think a good and a bad call. Andre Russell wasn't the same over the last couple of seasons for KKR, the way he started off, but at the same time, if you look back at all the releases that they have made and the kind of money that they are going to go with into the auction, I don't think it's a good call in that sense," Kumble said during a discussion on Star Sports.
Kumble added that with other big hitters like Glenn Maxwell and Liam Livingstone also available in the auction pool, KKR could have strengthened their squad around Russell rather than letting him go.
Despite the major releases, KKR’s retained core remains strong. The team continues to back players such as Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, and Angkrish Raghuvanshi.
"Andre Russell at Rs 12 crore, they could have still held on, because he is someone who can certainly win you matches on his day, even now. You could have backed him up with somebody from the auction, now that there are a few releases in Glenn Maxwell and Liam Livingstone. You could have retained Russell and still gone into the auction with the maximum purse," he added.
It is important to mention that Russell joined KKR in 2014, has been one of the franchise’s biggest icons. Over 133 matches, he has scored 2,593 runs at a strike-rate of 174.97 and taken 122 wickets.
