ANDRE Russell is one of the most successful – and sought after – T20 players in cricket. Over the last year and a half, he has played T20 cricket for seven teams and won five titles.Here are the sides that will have to do without him over the next 12 months because of his ban for violating WADA’s whereabouts rule.
ISLAMABAD UNITED
Andre Russell was part of the Islamabad United team that won the first season of the Pakistan Super League in 2016. He was the tournament’s highest wicket-taker with 16 in ten games and he had an economy of eight per over.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS
Russell has been part of the KKR team since 2014 but became a key part of their first-choice XI over the last two years. In 2015, Russell scored 326 runs in 11 innings at a strike rate of 193 for KKR and was their highest wicket-taker with 14 and had an economy of eight per over. In 2016, Russell made 188 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 165, and was once again their highest wicket-taker – 15 wickets.
JAMAICA TALLAWAHS
Russell has played for Jamaica Tallawahs for four years and won two Caribbean Premier League titles with them – in 2013 and 2016. His best season was in 2016, when he made 286 runs at a strike rate of 172 and took 11 wickets at an average of 19. Russell was one of two players in the tournament to score more than 200 runs at a strike rate of more than 170.
SYDNEY THUNDER
Russell has played two seasons of the Big Bash League for Sydney Thunder. In 2015-16, he was an integral part of their title triumph – with 185 runs at a strike rate of 187 and 16 wickets – second most in the tournament – at an average of 19. His 2016-17 Big Bash was crippled by leg injuries though, and Russell dropped out of the tournament after five games.
DHAKA DYNAMITES
Russell has played three seasons for three different teams in the Bangladesh Premier League, and in 2016 he was part of the Dhaka Dynamites squad that won the tournament. He made 46 off 25 balls and had figures of 4-0-16-3 in the first Qualifier, which Dynamites won to seal their place in the final.
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
In 2016, Russell played three matches for Nottinghamshire in their run to the semi-final of the T20 Blast. He took 2 for 28 and scored 41 off 25 balls against Worcestershire, 2 for 34 and 15 off 8 balls against Derbyshire, and 3 for 20 and 39 off 18 balls in the semi-final against Northamptonshire.
WEST INDIES
Russell has only played T20 internationals for West Indies since November 2015; he is ineligible for ODIs because he did not play the domestic 50-over competition, which is one of the WICB’s criteria for selection. In 43 T20Is for West Indies, Russell has a batting average of 14.37 and strike rate of 130, and has taken 21 wickets at 37 apiece with an economy of over nine. Though his international career stats are not as impressive as his domestic numbers, Russell played a crucial innings in the 2016 World T20 semi-final against India in Mumbai, where he made 43 off 20 balls in a successful chase of 193.
West Indies went on to win their second World T20 title by beating England in the final. (ESPN Cricinfo)