{"id":6608,"date":"2018-11-05T18:50:47","date_gmt":"2018-11-05T13:20:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/?p=6608"},"modified":"2018-11-05T18:50:47","modified_gmt":"2018-11-05T13:20:47","slug":"andre-russells-injury-russells-international-cricket-return-doubtful-raises-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/andre-russells-injury-russells-international-cricket-return-doubtful-raises-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Andre Russell’s injury: Russell’s international cricket return is doubtful, raises questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2017, the West Indies faced a cricketing season, whose outcome given their normal standards of playing,\u00a0wasn’t too surprising.
\nEngland ran over them in an ODI series. After all, they were up against Stokes, Roy, Hales, Morgan, and others in England. They played hosts to Pakistan in the Caribbean cricketing summer. They lost the series. Their average Test showing would be replicated in the ODI format as well, which they lost 2-1.
\nAt the conclusion of the year, a season that had no Darren Bravo with Samuels and Gayle hardly featuring, a point over the team’s fortunes was made in bereavement.<\/p>\n

Andre Russell was being missed<\/h2>\n

That there was no Andre Russell all along was offered as one of the big mishaps for the men.
\nWhat had happened to him?
\nThe famous T20 superstar in making was biding his time away from international cricket having been found guilty of a doping scandal.
\nThe end result?
\nAn absence of 12 months of cricket was served, a facet that should’ve further ignited the all-rounder for his forthcoming return to international cricket.
\nBut just what do we see?
\nIn fundamentally returning to international cricket, Andre Russell is anything but active for national duties. Though, for some reason, he’s played CPL, appeared in APL despite knowing that he may have wanted to preserve his ‘out of action’ body for some interesting challenges ahead, given a full-length India tour and a return tour to Bangladesh.
\nIt’s not that his mind isn’t in tune for representing the West Indies. He’s a passionate player when he plays.
\nIt’s just that his 30-year-old body, despite a year of absence from rigors of cricketing duties doesn’t seem up for the work ahead.
\nHow else is one to articulate Andre Russell’s return, where he’s played one series against Bangladesh and sat out for the entire leg of the Indian tour?<\/p>\n

30 is no age to be worried about limited prospects<\/h2>\n

\"\"
Is he the best T20 batsman around? (Image: newindianexpress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nGiven his fantastic batting talent which, although, often manifests in the form of huge hits, a few that even land outside the park, Andre Russell has at least four years of competitive cricket ahead of him.
\nIn fact, who knows, even six, given his great fitness level.
\nMaybe that is where one has to pay some attention.
\nWhat’s the true measure of fitness; shouldn’t it lead to a greater consistency, starting first with increased appearances for one’s team?
\nThat in Russell’s case, it conveniently resonates with multi-coloured jersey and not maroon begs to raise a debate.<\/p>\n

Who’s really benefitting with Russell’s supposed return?<\/h2>\n

\"\"
Not only is he a powerful hitter, he gives the team important breakthroughs (Image: Zee News)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nWhat’s Andre Russell really bringing to the side?
\nHis talent is undoubtedly great.
\nThat he was, once again, missing in action when his team needed him to feature, for he was not only familiar with the format his team were to feature in but also all set to play in a ground, that given his purple jersey would’ve drawn many a crowd from the KKR lineage hurt his team.
\nAt being 55 for 5, Russell stepping in may have taken the score to 130 or 120, in the least.
\nSadly, that kind of luxury wasn’t to be his team’s.
\nThat it also hurt his own waning fortunes- one moment he returns to the sport, only to sit out from a series in entirety- is every bit confusing as is a run rate of over 6.5 in an ODI culminating into an eventual loss.
\nIn an age thriving on gym culture and Insta-fashioned updates about one’s tiny details of life, where is it that Russell adds value?
\nOn paper, you see his name as being capable of wrecking some damage.
\nThat he dives full-length, puts that muscular frame on the grass, juggles between the role of a bowler who strangely doesn’t learn from going full-length into being a white-ball smasher attracts as much as it warrants some critical appraisal of his ‘all-round’ skill.
\nA couple of months back in time, Russell powered 100-meter sixes frequently, first in the Caribbean and later, in the United States that weren’t eventually enough in saving the West Indies from being hammered by Bangladesh.<\/p>\n

Did their fans see capitulation at the hands of Bangladesh coming?<\/h2>\n

\"\"
West Indies needs to bring Russell in the mix again with the World Cup not too far (Image: Firstpost)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nOn a lighter side, he would be able to win Windies a game only if he plays in the first place.
\nThe current team is fledgling.
\nIt’s under pressure. Perhaps they don’t realize it that well but a reputation is at stake, that of being World T20 beaters, given they are a team that has won the crowning glory once not twice.
\nBut questions run amock.
\nThe worry isn’t about the mindset of a team that in space of a week has had Shai Hope run out twice, Hetmyer falling to\u00a0appalling shot-selection and the T20 mirroring the batting collapses as seen in the 4th and 5th ODIs.
\nThe question is the real difference one man would’ve brought to a team that’s continually playing amid to a headless chicken.
\nWhy was Andre Russell- whose absence is currently being rued- not taken into confidence by this board that a major series featuring both ODIs and T20s was to happen and that, he may have wanted to eschew the Afghanistan Premier League?
\nIs the Russell household so bereft of two square meals a day that in order to account for ration, representing the APL that eventually resulted in his injury that now sees him catch Youtube-reruns of this series absolutely vital?
\nMoreover, what’s to become of Russell? Will he play Bangladesh as his jaded team land in Shakib-Al-Hasan-land further down this month? Finally, is his cricket board or the man himself determined to offer some explanation?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2017, the West Indies faced a cricketing season, whose outcome given their normal standards of playing,\u00a0wasn’t too surprising. England ran over them in an ODI series. After all, they were up against Stokes, Roy, Hales, Morgan, and others in England. They played hosts to Pakistan in the Caribbean cricketing summer. They lost the series. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,41,679],"tags":[1516,1517],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6608"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}