Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) should be careful about not being over-reliant on Andre Russell while their openers too should take some more responsibility when batting, emphasised Brian Lara.

Speaking to the official broadcasters after the Knight Riders’ seven-wicket thrashing at the hands of Chennai Super Kings, Lara said: “Andre Russell has been in excellent form. He has been batting superbly, but he is not Vivian Richards.

“Yes, he can clear the ground with ease, but there will come a day when he’ll fail. So, the Knight Riders need to be wary of it and make sure they don’t look at him alone to score runs and bail them out of trouble all the time.”

The former West Indies captain seemed disappointed with the performance of Chris Lynn, who showed hardly any application in Tuesday’s game. Being the more established batsman compared to Sunil Narine, the Knight Riders needed him to stay longer on a wicket that wasn’t easy .

“The top two need to get the team off to good starts consistently to make things easier for the rest of the KKR batting line-up. I think Lynn needs to take up more responsibility.”

Asked how much of help would this IPL be for the Windies cricketers, Lara replied: “Some of the Windies players have done well in the IPL... Russell has had couple of good years. This season Alzarri Joseph’s performance has certainly impressed me. So, let’s see how they go on from here.”