“The straight answer to his release is Abhishek Nayar” - Ex-Indian cricketer on KKR releasing Andre Russell ahead of IPL 2026 auction

Former India batter Mohammad Kaif slammed KKR for releasing Andre Russell, stating bluntly that "The straight answer is Abhishek Nayar." Kaif accused the new head coach of wanting to "make his own team now," despite Russell being a "once in a generation player."

17 Nov 2025 14:32 IST

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Former Indian cricketer and analyst Mohammad Kaif has reckoned that it wasn’t the right call from the Kolkata Knight Riders to release their match-winning all-rounder Andre Russell ahead of the IPL 2026 mini-auction, scheduled to take place in mid-December.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Kaif called Russell a ‘once in a generation player’, adding that the new head coach, Abhishek Nayar, might have played a pivotal role in releasing the all-rounder from the KKR squad.

"Russell's release is not right. You had him at 12 crore and that is not a big amount really for a player like him. He is once in a generation player. Yes he was out of form but later on he scored runs too. But as coaches change, they bring some changes. I think this was a big call. You can say he was not at his peak but I feel this is such a format, especially in the IPL, where experienced players do well and there are many examples,” Mohammad Kaif said on his YouTube channel.

“I feel the straight answer to his release is Abhishek Nayar. He wants to make his own team now. But this was an astonishing call," he added.

"The quality and power that Russell has, even four players like Green cannot cover that. The way he plays, he can hit 100m sixes as per will and he has won them so many games from situations where the game seemed lost. He got that respect because of this ability. There are very few players like him at number seven. If you play Green at seven, he cannot score even half the runs of Russell, he bats up the order. I feel they should buy Russell back,” he concluded.

Interestingly, KKR went on to release a total of 10 players as they managed to retain only 12 players ahead of the IPL 2026 mini-auction. They move into the auction with a hefty purse of INR 64.3 Crore.

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