Reflecting on Andre Russell's Journey in the Ind T20 League 


You simply cannot leave out Andre Russell from a conversation about the most destructive and impactful all rounders in the T20 format. In fact, he should be among the top candidates.

Russell made his T20I debut for the Windies on April 21, 2011, against the Shaheens. Russel’s clinical performances for the West Indies and Jamaica in the domestic circuit, opened the way for him to grab the attention of the Indian T20 League franchises, with Delhi acquiring him at the 2012 auction.

After almost two seasons with Delhi, he was signed by Kolkata . He played a crucial role in KOL’s maiden title win in his inaugural season. As Russell turns 36 today, let us have a look at five of his best performances in the Indian T20 League. 

80* vs Mumbai, 2019      

In the 2019 edition of the competition, Russell played a splendid knock against Mumbai. Coming out at one down, Russell hit 8 sixes and 6 fours en route to an unbeaten 40 ball 80 to propel KOL to a gigantic 232. MUM in reply, fell short, despite a valiant effort from Hardik Pandya, who scored a whirlwind 34 ball 91, with Russell claiming two scalps. 

66 vs Punjab, 2015

This arguably has to be one of the finest T20 knocks in a run chase. In 2015, Punjab scored 155 on a slow moving track batting first. A target so paltry should have been a cakewalk for a batting heavyweight like KOL but Sandeep Sharma had other plans. The medium pacer ripped through KOL’s top order and picked 4 wickets in his opening spell. 

At 60/5, the then reigning champions were at the risk of getting bundled out. In came ‘Dre Russ’ as a saviour. He scored 66 runs off 36 deliveries, hitting two maximums and nine fours. He was eventually dismissed by Mitchell Johnson, but it was too late as the scores had already been levelled. KOL won that game by four wickets. 

48* vs Bengaluru, 2019

In an Ind T20 League tie against Bengaluru, Andre Russell stood firmly, annihilating everything coming his way. KOL were batting second, and Russell walked inside the 15th over. At that instance, KOL required 68 runs off 26 balls. The Caribbean was struggling initially, managing to score just one in his first four balls. 

With the equation down to 52 runs from 16 balls, and the required run rate creeping nearly 20, Russell smashed three huge sixes in three consecutive balls. At the end of the 18th over, KOL needed 30 runs off 12 balls, a far less daunting challenge. The penultimate over, bowled by veteran Tim Southee, saw Shubhman Gill change the strike off the very first ball. 

The single brought Russell back at strike, who was at his blungened best that day. With the intent of killing the tie in that over itself, the power hitter smoked Southee for four sixes and one four to level the scores. Gill then took a single off the final over to seal the victory for KOL. 

88* vs Chennai, 2018

Andre Russell recorded his highest individual score in the Ind T20 League in April 2018 against the men in yellow. Rusell scored an unbeaten 88 at an impressive strike rate of 244.44, hitting 11 sixes and one boundary to help KOL post a formidable total of 202 runs batting first. Even though CHE eventually won the duel on the second last ball, it showed just how reliable Russell can be in high pressure situations. 

64* vs Hyderabad, 2024

In KOL’s season opener of Ind T20 League 2024, Andre Russell captivated everyone with a blistering 25 ball 64. His enthralling knock was studded with seven sixes and three fours. He went berserk in the last eight overs, helping KOL cross the 200 run mark. HYD came very close, losing the match by only four runs, highlighting how crucial Russell’s knock was in the context of the game. Besides the unbeaten knock, Russell also took two wickets in that match.