Angelo Mathews Texted Andre Russell Requesting To Play In The Lanka Premier League

Big-hitting West Indies all-rounder, Andre Russell reveals why he decided to participate in the Lanka Premier League (LPL) despite not being fully fit.

Andre Russell is currently plying his trade in the LPL for Colombo Kings. Russell has scored 158 runs in seven games at a strike rate of 195.06. In his second match of the tournament, which was shortened to 5 overs due to rain, he smashed 65 runs off 19 balls against Galle Gladiators.

With the ball as well, the pacer has picked 8 wickets at a strike rate of 9.7 and an economy of under 9. Colombo currently sits at the second position on the points table and is set to enter the semi-finals.

I turned down the offer initially: Andre Russell

Andre Russell was amongst another controversy before playing in the LPL. After he got injured during the IPL in the UAE, he pulled out of West Indies’ tour to New Zealand. However, at the same time, he landed in Sri Lanka to participate in the LPL.

Speaking to a Jamaica-based TV network SportsMax, Russell has cleared the air surrounding this issue by saying that he asked the chief selector Roger Harper to name him in the international squad again as he then felt fitter, but Harper refused as the team has already been announced.

The 32-year-old didn’t want to join Colombo initially because he wasn’t completely fit enough, but when he received a text from Kings’ skipper, Angelo Matthews saying that he could play solely as a batsman, Russell decided to come and play alongside the Sri Lankan.

Andre Russell said, “While in Dubai, I got an offer, but before I get this offer, I turned down the offer to come here (Sri Lanka) because I said I can’t come because I got injured. “While I was in Dubai, playing the UKC [Ultimate Kricket Challenge], then, Angelo Mathews messaged me. He said: ‘Bro, we need you to play, even as a batsman.”

The Jamaican had a forgettable IPL season for Kolkata Knight Riders. He managed to score only 117 runs in 10 matches a strike rate of 144.

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