‘He is the Michael Jordan of T20 cricket’: KKR CEO has huge praise for all-rounder

Russell lit up the previous edition of the IPL, scoring 510 runs in 14 matches at an average of 56.66 and a strike-rate of a stunning 204.81 and picked up 11 wickets.

CEO of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Venky Mysore touched upon Andre Russell’s incredible all-round skills, highlighting just how good the West Indian is when it comes to T20 cricket. Russell lit up the previous edition of the Indian Premier League, scoring 510 runs in 14 matches at an average of 56.66 and a strike-rate of a stunning 204.81. Besides scoring four half-centuries and with the ball, Russell claimed 11 wickets, helping KKR finish fifth on the points-table with 12 points.

Andre Russell smashes one out of the park(Getty Images)

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“We’ve been fortunate that Andre Russell has been the No. 1 T20 player in the world. You can say he’s a batsman, bowler, all-rounder but he’s just the No. 1 T20 player in the world. He’s the Michael Jordan of T20 cricket. There’s no question about it,” Mysore told SportsKeeda in an interview.

Mysore was all praise for the overall composition of the squad. With Russell and Sunil Narine as their prime all-rounders, KKR strengthened their squad even further purchasing England captain Eoin Morgan and shelling out Rs 15.5 crore on Australia quick Pat Cummins. Besides Morgan and Cummins, Mysore said he was happy to have acquired the services of Nitish Rana, who switched to KKR from Mumbai Indians in 2018 and has scored 304 and 344 runs in two seasons respectively.

“A lot of people don’t realise that Sunil Narine has been an outstanding all-rounder. Everyone knows how good he is as a bowler, but he’s transformed himself into an all-rounder. That’s because of the opportunities he has got at KKR and he has grabbed them with both hands,” Mysore said.

“It’s incredible the role he plays - opening the batting, bowling at various stages whenever the captain wants him to. That makes it two really strong all-rounders. We are also very fortunate to have people like Pat Cummins and Nitish Rana.”