Andre Russell has decided to hang his boots from the Indian Premier League. Russell’s decision to call time on his IPL career comes after he was not retained by Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the 2026 mini auction. The West Indies all-rounder parted ways with the three-time champions after 11 seasons.
The hard-hitting all-rounder joined KKR in 2014 and he is one of the two players in IPL history to have scored over 2000 runs and pick 100 wickets. However, in IPL 2025, Russell scored 167 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 163.72 including a 50. Furthermore, Dre Russ scalped eight wickets in nine innings at an average of 27.12 and an economy of 11.94.
“I had some amazing times and great memories (in the IPL), hitting sixes, winning games, getting MVPs,” Russell was quoted as saying in a release.
“When I made this decision, I felt like it was the best decision at this point. I don’t want to fade out, I want to leave a legacy behind. It’s best to retire when fans ask “why? You still have some more in you. You still could go for a bit longer.” instead of “yeah, you should have done it years back.”
In a 12-season IPL career, Russell played 140 matches in the tournament, scoring 2651 runs at a strike rate of 174.18 and took 123 wickets at an economy of 9.51.
Russell made his IPL debut in 2012 for Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) before he was signed in IPL 2014 by KKR.
The match-winning all-rounder said he didn’t see himself playing for any other franchise than KKR.
“When you are going through social media, you keep seeing yourself photoshopped in different jerseys (of other teams). I felt weird to see myself in any colour other than purple & gold and those thoughts kept going through my head, leading me to a few sleepless nights,” Russell said.
“There have been a lot of conversations between me and Mr. Venky Mysore and also Mr. Shah Rukh Khan, about another chapter in my IPL journey. They have shown me love and respect and have appreciate whatever I’ve been doing on the field. To be in a setup that’s familiar, matters to me a lot,” he added.
Russell will continue to ply his trade in other T20 leagues across the globe.
