KKR Player Drop Big Hint about Andre Russell Retirement

After Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) registered a thrilling 1 run victory over the Rajasthan Royals on Sunday, KKR’s world-class spin bowler Varun Chakravarthy has dropped massive update on retirement plan of Andre Russell.

The Caribbean monster Andre Russell was the hero for the Kolkata Knight Riders in their crucial win vs the Rajasthan Royals at the Eden Gardens.

Batting first at the Eden Gardens, KKR scored 206 runs in 20 overs with Andre Russell displaying the vintage Russell Muscle with his cameo of 57 runs off 25 balls that included 6 gigantic sixes.

Later, Russell bowled the crucial 19th over of the 2nd inning when the match could have gone any way. But, his 11 runs over put the Knight Riders is a great position to win the match, which they eventually won by just 1 run after an expensive 20th over.

But Andre Russell was named Player of the Match for his performance for his brilliant batting display. But after the match, his teammate Varun Chakravarthy dropped a major hint about Russell’s retirement plan.

In a post match interview, Varun Chakravarthy said that Andre Russell still wants to play coming two or three cycles of the IPL.

A cycle in IPL means 3 years between two mega auction, clearly indicating Russell still plans to stick around the game for the next 4-6 years.

“As far as I’ve spoken to him and interacted with him, he still wants to play another two or three cycles of the IPL – which is easily six more years. He looks fine and fit. It doesn’t matter how old you are, as long as you’re contributing to the team. That’s the mindset. In franchise cricket, no one’s going to question that,” Varun Chakravarthy said about the 37-years-old.

Andre Russell has been off-form in IPL 2025

Meanwhile, this hasn’t been the kind of campaign that Andre Russell is known for. The Caribbean all-rounder has scored 129 runs in 8 innings but if his 57 runs from the last match is excluded, he has scored only 72 runs in 7 innings.

However he has been effective with the ball. Russell has barely been used for just 1-2 overs each match but he has taken 8 wickets, proving to be quite the golden arm for KKR in IPL 2025 season.

KKR remain in IPL 2025 playoffs race

Meanwhile, after their win in the last match against the Rajasthan Royals, KKR still finds themselves in the race for a spot in the IPL 2025 playoffs. The Knight Riders have played 11 matches and 11 points from 5 wins, 5 losses and one match against Punjab Kings abandoned due to rain.

The minimum cut-off mark for this year’s IPL playoffs qualification is expected to be 16 points and if Kolkata Knight Riders win all of their next 3 matches, they will end-up with 17 points, which could take the defending champions into the playoffs.