Andre Russell - West Indies - Bowling Allrounder

Andre Russell from Jamaica, made his ODI debut in the 2011 World Cup against Ireland. By then, he had already played one Test against Sri Lanka in 2010. He impressed a lot of people with his energy in his first few games in the 2011 World Cup. A bustling pacer, he is a powerful lower middle-order batsman too.

Russell did not fare well in the series against Pakistan immediately after the 2011 World Cup. However, he came into his own in the ODI series against India soon after. Russell made a superlative 92 not out in the the third game. In the same match, he also picked up a wicket, effected a run out and took a catch. Despite his best efforts, West Indies lost the game and the series.

In the fourth match, he played a nice cameo with the bat and also took three wickets to plunge India to defeat. He got even better in the fifth match, picking up four wickets and earned the Man of the Match award. With West Indies looking to build a team for the future, Russell at that time came across as one of the brightest prospects around. He even impressed the likes of Sir Vivian Richards, but just like many other cricketers from the West Indies, Russell has struggled for consistency.

The early promise then faded away a touch, but Russell continued to remain a force to reckon with in the abbreviated versions of the game. In the first edition of the CPL, Russell slammed 203 runs at an astronomical strike rate of 189.71 with the cherry on the cake being his 18-ball-33 in the final, powering Jamaica Tallawahs to the title.

He is also the only bowler in T20s to snatch four wickets in four balls. He accomplished the feat against India A in 2013. After some fleeting appearances for Delhi, he was signed up by Kolkata in the Indian T20 League in 2014, where he had a few decent outings and was part of a winning side. Russell also helped Jamaica Tallawahs reach the knock-out stages of the CPL, he amassed 219 runs and was the third highest run-getter for his team. Due to these performances, Big Bash team Melbourne Renegades signed up Russell for the fourth edition. The allrounder had to leave halfway through the tournament because of national commitments. He went to South Africa and was part of the T20I and ODI sides. Russell also made it to his second 50-over World Cup as the selectors named him in the 15-man squad.

He played a few blistering cameos as the West Indies ended with a quarterfinal finish. Life was going the merry way for big Russell before the doping controversy hit him later that year. The Jamaica anti-doping commission charged him for not reporting his whereabouts - a clause that he violated as many as three times. The incident meant that he wasn't considered for the national team thereafter with the trial going on at that time. Eventually, Russell was found guilty by the panel handling the investigation of the same and got handed a one-year ban, starting from January 31, 2017.

IPL through the years

After shining as a power-hitter for the Caribbean unit, the IPL pundits decided to buy his services for the Jamboree in 2012. Delhi Daredevils were at the fore-front and they fetched him for a whopping sum of 450,000 USD. But sparse chances and injuries restricted his number of games to a handful for the 2012 and 2013 editions.

Year 2014 was when fortunes turned around for the burly hitter as he was roped in by KKR. But even 2014 only saw him compete in a couple of games for the Kolkata side which won the tournament for the second time that year. But the tide changed for good in 2015 and it saw Andre Russell being Man of the Match thrice in that edition of the tourney. His three fifties that season saw him tally 326 runs at an astounding strike-rate of 192. He also starred with the ball and picked up 14 wickets to be adjudged as the MVP of the 2015 IPL.

If his massive hitting wasn't enough eye-catching, the 2016 edition saw him winning two Man of the Match awards for his bowling. The runs were lesser but he did well to climb up the wicket-takers chart with 15 wickets in the season. KKR made it to the play-offs but failed to make it to the finale.

After serving a one year ban, Russell was back in the IPL tirade and his exploits again and it took him only two games in the 2018 IPL to make a mark, again! A savage 36-ball 88 which included 11 sixes and 1 four served as a spectacle to all and sundry who viewed it at the Chepauk. KKR though ended up losing that game in the last over. But Dre Russ ended up with 13 wickets and more than 300 runs in the season.

In IPL 2022, Andre Russell had another fantastic season as he played a pivotal all-round role for the Knight Riders. In 14 matches Dre Russ scored 335 runs and picked 17 wickets, and was clearly the top performer of the season for the Knights. Russell's best performance with the bat came against the Punjab Kings where he smashed a 31-ball 70*, while his best bowling spell of 4/5 came against the Gujarat Titans at the DY Patil Sports Academy. Despite Russell's prolific contribution in the tournament, KKR couldn't qualify for the playoffs as they finished 7th on the points table.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan