West Indies all-rounder, Andre Russell, has come under fire for what has been described as the lack of improvement in his game, as his struggles with the bat for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have been plainly noticeable in IPL 2020 so far.
In eight matches to date, Russell has struggled to an average of 11.85, with a high score of 24. As those stats will tell you, the typically big-hitting West Indian has managed to clear the boundary rope just 6 times, reaching to it on four occasions, well short of his explosive best.
The performance is light years away from last season’s bulldozer campaign, which saw the player accumulate 510 runs from the stipulated 14 games at an average of 56.66, with a whopping 204.81 strike rate.
Former India spinner Pragyan Ojha believes a big part of the issue is that Russell has not developed his game and is the same player he was four years ago. Worse yet, he believes it could increasingly become a liability for KKR.
“Andre Russell is not an improved cricketer, he has not changed his game. You see all the top players, they have changed their approach. Andre Russell is playing just the way he was playing 4 years ago, that is a liability,” Ojha told India Today’s Sports Tak.
“Look at Jasprit Bumrah, when he came into the Mumbai Indians side and what he is today, you have to improve. You have to improve as a cricketer, cricket is evolving and you have to evolve, you cannot be stagnant.”
Russell has done a bit better with the ball, claiming six wickets at an economy rate of 9.12.