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Virender Sehwag's advice for Andre Russel (Source: Twitter)
Andre Russell is off to one of the poorest starts in his stellar IPL career, with just 39 runs in his first four games. The powerful West Indies all-rounder, who has won the most games for KKR with his bat, has been unusually quiet in the IPL 2023 with both bat and ball. In fact, during the first three games, he didn't bowl a single over.
He picked up three wickets when KKR captain Nitish Rana eventually pitched the ball to him in the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. But KKR needed him most with the bat, especially after Aiden Markram (50 off 26) and Harry Brook (100* off 55) helped SRH reach 228/4. However, the West Indies big hitter was dismissed for just 3 off 6 by leg-spinner Mayank Markande.
'If you get success as an opener, then you will become a million-dollar boy' - Virender Sehwag
In light of his difficulties against leg spinners, former India cricketer Rohan Gavaskar questioned Virender Sehwag on Cricbuzz whether KKR ought to have thought about opening with Russell. "He had a leg injury, so could KKR have sent him as an opener? He wouldn't have had to do a lot of running and could have used the field restrictions to his credit," Rohan Gavaskar said.
"I told Andre Russell the same thing in 2018. I told Russell to go domestic cricket and open. If you get success as an opener, then you will become a million-dollar boy. And he did that. He opened in CPL, scored a century in one of the games and messaged me, But he was the captain there, the biggest player. He can take such risks and calls of opening the batting. But can he do the same in KKR? This will have to be decided by the coaching staff and captain. He has no problems against fast bowlers, it's the spinners that can get him into trouble, but if he gets set while opening the batting, then he will get a lot more balls to play, and he can become even more dangerous," Sehwag said.
The former India opener even used Virat Kohli as an example to make the point that if Russell begins opening the batting and is successful, he can play in more matches. "Who is the chase master? Virat Kohli. Where does he bat for RCB? Doesn't he finish matches? Andre Russell can do that too. But KKR will have to take that risk. Will he be able to survive the new ball? If yes, then try him as an opener," he added.