It has been a down-on-two season for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder Andre Russell, considering his sublime standards. Russell has scored 55 runs in eight IPL 2025 Match at a strike rate of 119.57. The 36-year-old all-rounder hit only four sixes this season-a tally that often exceeds the form in a single match.
In KKR’s recent match against Gujarat Titans (GT), Russell scored just 21 runs off 15 balls. He was rejected by Rashid Khan before he could do any significant damage before he could do any significant damage.
While the form of Russell is actually a concern, the dismissal against GT also questions whether the leg-spin is Cryptonite in the IPL. She has been rejected by spinners 21 times in the tournament, out of which 14 are coming against leg-spinners.
Russell has scored 348 runs in 246 balls at a strike rate of 141.46 and an average of 24.85 against leg-spin.
Overall against spinners, he has scored 676 runs in 452 balls at a strike rate of 149.55 and on an average 32.19.
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Russell’s struggle against leg-spin has become even more clear since IPL 2023. He has scored 105 runs in 77 balls at a strike rate of 136.36 and is an average of 13.12 on average with eight dismissal.
This vulnerability was specifically exposed in IPL 2019, when CSK captain MS Dhoni brought leg-spinner Imran Tahir to a significant turn and captured it. The move paid, as Tahir rejected Russell for only 10 runs, leading to CSK.
“Russell is not only fighting only one. Yes, he has been rejected by leg-spinners for some time, but it is not a matter of concern. Rashid is one of the quality leg-spinners. We just need to bat better, so that Russell can finish the game,” KKR Mentor Dwayne Bravo asked for GT after the team’s loss.
“IPL is a tough tournament. When you don’t start well, batsmen go to a phase where they lose confidence. That’s what is happening at this time. We just have to support them and hope they will be good,” Bravo said.
KKR is currently at seventh place on the IPL 2025 point table and will face PBK in his next match.
Get the latest IPL 2025 update on Times of India, including match schedule, team squad, points table and IPL Live Score for CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBK and RR. Do not remember the list of players in the race for IPL Orange Cap and IPL Purple Cap.
