Andre Russell is in the form of his life.
It’s actually difficult to imagine that it’s the same magician with the bat who, until a year and a half back, was asked to sit away from international cricket, given his doping scandal. If you are a witness to the IPL 2019, ideally a tournament that given his prowess should be called the Andre Russell Premier League, 2019, you’d have found that Russell’s been some kind of a sea-monster; a mythical creature who devours anyone who comes in the middle of his sail.
There are no warnings, no half-hearted chances; he quite simply, gulps down his opponents.
The romanticism associated with one of cricket’s most extraordinary strikers of the white ball has reached its peak. It’s like one of those songs from Michael Jackson’s Thriller album; thriving dance numbers that begin to explode when they hit the crescendo.
On a lighter note, had Andre Russell’s cricket bat been a creature, it would’ve been the most talkative one.
Right?
12 matches-486 runs- an average of 69- what is going on?
Are they bowling that poor? How can they- there’s Chris Morris, Harbhajan, Ashwin, Bravo, Pandya brothers, McLenaghan, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb- the names are endless, the time is limited.
 One reckons if Andre Russell has declared himself a butcher of the IPL?
This is both interesting and commendable for the simple reason that the mighty hitter’s contemporaries in the IPL 2019 are Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, David Warner, Yusuf Pathan, Ben Stokes, and Virat Kohli, not the easiest of men to keep calm.
Basically, these are batsmen who cannot mind their own business.
For dealing in sixes is what comes naturally to them. But it’s Andre Russell who’s the master trader.
And he’s someone who deals in diamond trading, someone who’s ace negotiation skills compel a buyer to pitch the most expensive rate. In Russell’s lexicon, it becomes offering an expensive diamond at an affordable, buyable price with Russell having to simply pluck those and send them to a cupboard where he stores his jewels and it’s a worthy cupboard at that.
Think of the diamond as poorly-delivered balls, the cupboard being the stack of sixes and Russell plucking them meaning sending them over the fielders into the stands.
His cupboard is made of jewels. It’s sparkling. It’s a collective, more like a collector’s rear edition.
It’s Andre Russell who the bowlers fear the most. Do they not?
You don’t want to bowl to him at his range. Neither do you want to ever overstep or deliver a full-toss?
That’s not such a good idea, after all.
Yet, when something of that happens, as seen in contests against Mumbai, Rajasthan, and Delhi, Andre Russell, quite simply flexes his muscles and they do the needful.
It’s almost a bit of a shame when you begin to ponder about the number of occasions where Russell failed to live up to his mighty talent for the national team in the Caribbean as best as he’s trying today.
Can the man deliver the same blows and conjure the same magic wearing a maroon jersey over the purple one?
Well, truth be told, the West Indies would want just that. Would they not?
After all, there’s also some buffer on offer for Andre Russell, the big-hitting, six-striking, bowler-destroying batting all-rounder. As he’s closing in on 1000 runs, there’s awareness that in Holder and Carlos Brathwaite, there are two skilfull all-rounders that the Calypso side is carrying to England.
But in all likelihood and given Andre Russell’s penchant for being keenly engaged in a contest, it appears that he’ll be the main wheel of the West Indies while the other all-rounders could be the spare tyre of the car.
The fulcrum of West Indian lower-order
But action-man Russell is the wagon wheel around which the foundation of lower-order hitting and middle over bowling will revolve.
To his advantage, he’s played a few WC games in 2015. He showcased a full expanse of his muscles in games against Pakistan and Ireland in the past edition. He even took a famous 3-for against Pakistan. The sixes were coming in a big easy way, as if he were the mythical Yeti and those confronting him, unaware of this mammoth creature’s prowess.
The likes of Gayle, Holder, Brathwaite, Hope, Bravo, and Hetmyer- men who form the team’s core of batting- would want an able supporter in Russell.
On current form, his USP is the moonwalk, the crowd-pulling exuberant dance move while others’ is a dance symphony.
But one reckons the team would hold itself in good stead if it can survive a low phase with Russell steadying the ship. With a flurry of wickets falling, having someone with Russell’s power and flair arguably, with someone as cautious as Jason Holder or watchful as a Darren Bravo at the other end could still bail out Windies.
Moreover, Andre Russell’s unquestionable commitment to the team; the penchant to dive and display all-around athleticism, whether the opening over of a bowling spell or the final over of a nail-biting finish make him a top-notch athlete.
Make it simple. He’s the alfa male at KKR. And something the West Indies won’t mind at all to fire scud-missiles at their opposite numbers.