West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell has finally revealed his sudden exit to the IPL ahead of the 2026 mini-auction. Russell was released by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ahead of the auction in December after spending 12 seasons with the franchise. While fans were expecting KKR to pick up Russell in the auction or expecting him to join another team, the 37-year-old announced his shock exit from the tournament.
Recently a veteran all-rounder spilled the beans on his surprising decision when he mentioned the demands of playing in the world’s biggest T20 league. Russell pointed out that it is difficult to give his best as an all-rounder during the season and said it was one of the reasons he decided to hang up his boots from the league.
“Definitely. It’s based on the number of games and travel. You have to make sure you recover as much as possible, stay fresh and manage your body, manage the training and the load in the gym. You definitely have to exercise, you have to go to the gym, but also make sure you don’t do too much. With a big league like the IPL, it’s always challenging for me because I can only talk about batting and versatility. that you’re into catching and fielding – it’s always challenging, I just think this league is so big that you always want to make sure you’re always at your best,” Russell told Cricbuzz.
The all-rounder also mentioned that he never thought of playing only as a batsman as both his skills complement each other and he could never imagine playing just one role for his team.
“I never thought about it because I think my batting complements my bowling and my bowling complements my batting. I always look forward to at least two overs in a game. I think if I bowl well, my batting will automatically flow and that’s very important to me. If I was just a batsman from the beginning of my career, then maybe I could think of it as everything he plays or as an influence on the bat. Only and smashing sixes, I have to be fair to what I enjoy, which is batting and bowling,” he added.
While Russell has retired from the IPL, he will continue to ply his trade in various T20 leagues around the world. He played a total of 140 matches in his IPL career and scored 2,651 runs at a strike rate of 174.18 – the highest ever for a player who faced at least 1,000 balls. He also scalped 123 wickets at an average of 23.28, with best figures of 5/15.
Russell’s best seasons came in KKR colours, he was named the IPL Most Valuable Player in 2015 and 2019. He also won two IPL titles with Kolkata in 2014 and 2024. After his retirement, he will serve as the team’s strength coach this coming season.
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Issued by:
Rishabh Beniwal
Published on:
December 5, 2025
