Has the Eden seen the last of Andre Russell? It was a huge struggle for the Jamaican on Saturday. He seemed all lost during his nine-ball stay before falling to Ravi Bishnoi’s googly. Perhaps he is past his ‘best-before’ date.
Nine seasons without a trophy and Kolkata Knight Riders need to take a close look at the performance of some of their retained stars. Not just Russell, even Sunil Narine has been disappointing in this edition.
The off spinner has 11 wickets in 14 matches at an economy of 7.97. Prior to his two wickets against Chennai Super Kings in their last match, the mystery spinner had gone through nine games without a single scalp. Russell fared no better with 227 runs at a strike-rate of 145.51.
A lot has been said about Russell’s batting position but has he shown the ability to deliver as a finisher? Except for one match against Punjab Kings at the Eden, he hardly inspired confidence.
Mumbai Indians and CSK made path-breaking decisions in this respect when they decided to retire Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo, respectively, after last season. Both stayed with the franchise though as support staff.
Not without reason have Mumbai Indians and CSK won nine IPL titles between them. They dared to take the bold step despite both being match-winners.
Pollard, the 35-year-old Trinidadian who was a key member of five IPL and two Champions League titles for Mumbai Indians, was a pale shadow of himself in IPL 2022, managing just 144 runs in 11 games at a poor strike rate of 107.46.
Bravo, who with 183 was the highest wicket-taker after 15 seasons of IPL, took 16 in 10 games at an economy of 8.70 last season.
Both Pollard and Bravo though featured for MI Emirates in the inaugural ILT20 earlier this year. Given the high standards of IPL, which involves the cream of T20 cricket, intent and form matters most since failings will be brutally exposed.
Replacing the likes of Narine and Russell won’t be easy and KKR will have to go through a period of transition. But it is in the Knights’ best interests that they should look for replacements.
The team management must realise the harsh truths. They need to accept that Narine, 34, and Russell, 35, are way behind their best. In their desperation to play the duo, the team management benched some accomplished overseas stars.
Mumbai Indians and CSK showed the guts to make tough selections and it has shown in their performances this time.
It will not be the easiest of decisions but Knight Riders are at a crossroads, teetering between their glorious past and fear of an uncertain future. The call to innovate needs to be taken quickly.
