Anil Kumble says KKR should have retained Andre Russell before IPL 2026 auction

Former Indian captain Anil Kumble has opined that Kolkata Knight Riders should have retained Andre Russell for INR 12 crore before IPL 2026 auction. The West Indies all-rounder leaves 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 think a good and a bad call. Andre Russell wasn’t the same over the last couple of seasons for KKR, the way he started off, but at the same time, if you look back at all the releases that they have made and the kind of money that they are going to go with into the auction, I don’t think it’s a good call in that sense,” Anil Kumble said on Star Sports.

Kumble said Russell is a match-winner on his day and KKR could have held on to him.

“Andre Russell at ₹12 crore, they could have still held on, because he is someone who can certainly win you matches on his day, even now. You could have backed him up with somebody from the auction, now that there are a few releases in Glenn Maxwell and Liam Livingstone. You could have retained Russell and still gone into the auction with the maximum purse,” he added.

On the other hand, former Indian wicket-keeper bat Saba Karim said there is a good chance that KKR might buy back Russell in the upcoming auction.

“There is a strong possibility that KKR may buy him back. There is a strong possibility that he may not go for that much money. This is a trademark Abhishek Nayar move. He always wants to start on a fresh note. He has retained only such players who he feels can be part of the winning combination, who can be regular in their XI,” he said.

The former Indian selector added team’s think tank thinks Russell is not as valuable as he was in the past.

“The rest he wants to buy in the auction. He will make his combination according to that. I have always seen Abhishek Nayar work in this kind of manner. The KKR management feels at this stage that maybe Russell has exhausted his utility, the kind of value KKR have put on Russell for a number of years,” Saba observed.

The IPL 2026 auction is likely to be scheduled on December 15.