Sanjay Bangar not surprised after KKR releases Andre Russell ahead of IPL 2026 auction

Former Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar was not surprised after Kolkata Knight Riders released Andre Russell ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. The West Indies all-rounder leaves the three-time champions after 11 seasons. Russell was retained by the franchise ahead of the 2025 mega auction for INR 12 crore.

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.

Sanjay Bangar said there were indications that KKR was going to release Andre Russell ahead of the auction.

Bangar said on ESPN Cricinfo, “Not really, because the signs were there. KKR were probably not utilising the services of Russell, the batter because most times he batted lower down the order. Also, his usage as the bowler – because he hardly bowled his entire quota of four overs in many of the matches he played in the last season. So, there were signs that maybe Russell will have to ply his trade for another franchise.”

KKR have also released Venkatesh Iyer, who was bought for a whopping amount of INR 23.75 crore.

Meanwhile, it is expected that KKR would stick with Ajinkya Rahane as the team’s captain for IPL 2026. The franchise had failed to make it to the playoffs in the previous season.

Abhishek Nayar has been appointed as the team’s new head coach whereas Shane Watson has also joined the coaching staff.

Players released by Kolkata Knight Riders: Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Quinton de Kock, Moeen Ali, Anrich Nortje, and Mayank Markande (traded to MI).

Players retained by Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane, Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Varun Chakravarthy, Luvnith Sisodia, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ramandeep Singh, Ankul Roy, Rovman Powell, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya, Spencer Johnson.