Watch: Andre Russell Almost Hits Dinesh Karthik With A Straight Shot During KKR's Practice Match

Superstar Kolkata Knight Riders all-rounder, Andre Russell nearly injured Dinesh Karthik during a practice game ahead of the IPL 2021. On Saturday, the 2-time champions played a practice game at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai, in order to get the players prepared for the tournament which commences in less than a week’s time.

Andre Russell, the muscular West Indian was batting, with Dinesh Karthik at the non-striker’s end. He hit a powerful shot straight down the ground, off a pacer. Dinesh Karthik, who was already a step towards the striker’s end, saw the ball hurtling towards him.

In order to save himself from the plight of the fiercely struck ball, the former skipper jumped, and fell down, evading the ball by a whisker. Karthik got up and completed the run.

The video was uploaded by the KKR’s official social media handle.

“Andre. DK. Watch the Knights get competitive in a practice game LIVE from DY Patil Stadium. @Russell12A @DineshKarthik #KKRHaiTaiyaar #IPL2021” the video was captioned.

Watch: Andre Russell’s powerful strike puts Dinesh Karthik on the ground

Andre ?
DK ?

Watch the Knights get competitive in a practice game LIVE from DY Patil Stadium now ??@Russell12A @DineshKarthik #KKRHaiTaiyaar #IPL2021

— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 3, 2021

The two captain’s in the practice game were Shubman Gill and Ben Cutting, with the latter’s team emerging victorious chasing down 176 with seven balls to spare. Karthik was the top scorer of the match with 90, albeit in a losing cause. Tim Seifert helped Cutting’s side gun down the target.

Andre Russell will look to hit such more shots in the IPL 2021 after a disappointing last season. The West Indian struggled with injury throughout the tournament and could manage to score only 117 runs in 10 matches and picked 6 wickets.

KKR would hope for Andre Russell to replicate his 2019 form where he smashed 510 at a strike rate of 204.82 and took 11 wickets. Dinesh Karthik, too, performed under-par in the UAE last year, scoring 169 runs with a solitary half-century amidst handing over the captaincy to Eoin Morgan.

KKR hasn’t qualified for the playoffs in the last two seasons. The two-time champions commence their campaign on April 11 against Sunriders Hyderabad in Chennai.

Also Read: I Realised There Is No Point In Stopping Him – Sourav Ganguly Recalls A Funny Incident With Virender Sehwag That Taught The Skipper A Captaincy Lesson In 2002 Natwest Final