KKR’s Andre Russell Opens up on His Rough Patch During IPL 2020

Andre Russell said that he felt like coming out of prison after the bio-secure bubble in Dubai.

West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell opened up on his rough patch during recently concluded Indian Premier League in the UAE. Russell claims that he changed his stance, technique and trigger movement to get back into running-ways but nothing went in his way.

Russell, who played for Kolkata Knight Riders, had a tough time with the bat in the UAE as he scored 117 runs 10 matches, many fast bowlers during the tournament targetted him with the short balls. With the ball also, Russell had a tough time as he managed to get only six wickets. He also struggled with the fitness and missed a few matches.

“I changed my stance, I changed my technique, I changed my trigger movement, all these things I changed just to score runs in IPL and nothing was going my way. The pressure was real. I’m a tough player, and I didn’t know I could actually feel what happened during this year’s IPL. And I just wanted everything to go quickly behind me,” Russell told a Jamaica-based TV network SportsMax.

Russell also talked about staying in the bio-secure bubble for back-to-back tournaments Caribbean Premier League and IPL affected him.

“Coming from a bubble in Trinidad [for CPL], come straight into Abu Dhabi [in IPL], days on days, you can only go to practise, and come back to the hotel and your room. You can close your eyes and go to the bathroom, but there is nowhere else to go,” Russell said.

The allrounder said that he felt like coming out of prison after the bio-secure bubble in Dubai.

“I get out of the bubble. I go to Dubai, have a good time, drink, party, loosen myself. I feel alive. When you feel like you’re coming out of prison, it’s like. I’ve never been to prison, but this lockdown actually felt ‘oh my god, I can’t do whatever I want to do’,” he said.