Andre Russell is in red-hot form at the moment. Almost every bowler who has come to bowl at him in the ongoing Indian Premier League has been taken to the cleaners. So far, he has amassed a staggering 207 runs in just 77 balls. While no other batsman has so far hit more than 12 sixes, Russell has hit an unbelievable 22 in just four innings. He has scored at an average of over 103 and a strike-rate of over 268. In five games so far, Russell has walked away with the Man of the Match award thrice.
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Last week, he had powered Kolkata Knight Riders to a miraculous win against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Kolkata Knight Riders would have feared the worst when their skipper Dinesh Karthik departed on the final ball of the 17th over, leaving the team reeling at 153 for 5 while chasing 205. The game was slightly drifting towards Royal Challengers before Andre Russell hit three sixes in the 18th over to bring down the equation to 30 from the last two overs.
In the next over, he hit Tim Southee for 4 sixes and a four to collect 29 runs before Shubman Gill scored the winning runs. Russell remained unbeaten 48 off just 13 balls with the help of seven sixes.
It would not be entirely wrong to say that every team in the IPL would love to have Russell in its playing eleven. However, it looks like not every team in the world wants to have Russell by its side. Big Bash League outfit Sydney Thunder is in no mood to have the allrounder’s services. Russell has played an important role in Sydney Thunder’s maiden BBL title win in 2015-16. In the following season, he played five games but has not played for the team since then.
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According to cricket.com.au, Russell is not on the radar of the Thunder, who could be on the lookout for two overseas players for the forthcoming season. Jos Buttler has still one year left on his contract with the Thunder but looks doubtful for the next summer. England will be touring South Africa in December-January for a full-fledged series and Buttler is unlikely to play for Thunder.
The report further claimed that the Thunder are interested in an allrounder but are expected to wait until after the World Cup to see which players will be available. Thunder coach Shane Bond (Mumbai Indians) and captain Shane Watson (Chennai Super Kings), who are in India for the IPL, will have a major say in the matter.
