DESPITE being out of the game for a year Windies all-rounder Andre Russell has been retained by the Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the new Indian Premier League (IPL) season.

The 29-year-old Russell, considered one of the games top all-rounders, was banned from the sport in January of last year after being found guilty of committing three consecutive doping whereabouts violations.
Despite his lack of activity the Knight Riders, however, opted to keep faith with Russell, who was selected alongside Windies teammate Sunil Narine, as the only two players retained by the franchise.

Surprisingly the Knight Riders opted not to retain Gautam Gambhir who led the team to two IPL titles. The former captain has scored a total of 3 035 runs for KKR in the previous seasons. The franchise could, however, have some leeway in terms of keeping the player with its Right to Match (RTM) clause ahead of the IPL auction which will take place on January 27.

The new IPL player acquisition policy allows franchises to retain a maximum five players by virtue of a combination of pre-auction retention and RTM cards for the 2018 edition.
Russell, who was the 2015 player-of-the-tournament, was the team’s leading wicket-taker in the 2016 season. (Sportsmax)