Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) coach David Hussey intimated that star all-rounder Andre Russell. It could be ready for selection for Friday’s Indian Premier League (IPL) final against Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Russell, the swashbuckling all-rounder, had suffered a grade 2 hamstring injury and, after missing a few games. He may return for the final against CSK on Friday.
“He bowled before the game (against DC) today, so he might be in the mix,” Hussey said after the win against the Delhi Capitals in the post-match news conference (DC).
KKR lost six wickets in 3.5 overs with only seven runs gained while chasing a modest 136 for victory against DC. Before Rahul Tripathi’s magnificent six in the penultimate delivery of the final over sealed the deal in his team’s favor. Hussey was unconcerned about the failure and backed his batters in the final.
“No, I’m not concerned because they’re all classy players. They know how to play. (It) is just the difficult nature of these pictures, they have been playing on, makes the middle of players, sort of stand out, they are not getting their strike rate 200,” Hussey said.
Venkatesh Iyer
Before the spectacular collapse, Venkatesh Iyer’s magnificent half-century and Shubman Gill’s 46-run knock lay the foundation for KKR. Hussey, on the other hand, seemed upbeat heading into the final.
“… Full credit to (KKR skipper Eoin) Morgan, (we have) full confidence in Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, and Shakib (Al Hasan) going in the next game. They have done it countless times for their countries and in the IPL. So, we’re looking forward to the next game,” the chief mentor said.
“He (Shakib) is a fine player, has probably won us two games or contributed to two wins. So I’d like to think he is available, and I think, everybody’s going to be available for selection, so it’s going be a tough call by the head coach (Brendon McCullum),” said Hussey.
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