IPL 2021 | Should have crossed the line, not going to make excuses, rues Andre Russell
Kolkata Knight Riders star all-rounder Andre Russell was gutted with the loss against Mumbai Indians and insisted that KKR should have won the game and there can be no excuses for their display. He also added KKR will look to move forward strongly from this defeat, having played good cricket.
31 needed off the last 30 deliveries with six wickets in hand, with the trio of Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, and Shakib Al Hasan to bat, no one, literally no one, gave Mumbai Indians any chance to pull off a victory. But what then unfolded will be remembered for time immemorial as Kolkata even outdid the biggest chokers of the league, Punjab, and endured, arguably, the biggest choke, in the longest time possible, to lose the game against MI by 10 runs on Tuesday, in Chennai.
From 122 for 4 after 15 overs, the Eoin Morgan-led side ended with 142 for 7 in a meager chase of 153. Looking back at the shambolic defeat, Andre Russell, remarked that batting became very tricky at the end as MI kept on bowling into the wicket. However, he conceded, that no matter what, KKR should have won the game.
“Yeah, it was a bit difficult to hit at the end. The guys were bowling cutters, and they were bowling into the wicket. But at the end of the day, we are professionals. Not going to look for any excuses. We should have crossed the line tonight. We know what we can do, and I know what I can do," Russell said in the press conference.
Andre Russell ( 9 off 15) and Dinesh Karthik (8* off 11), the designated finishers of the side, failed to propel their side over the line. Russell rued the fact that both him and DK couldn't get boundaries under their belt, something he felt costed them big time.
"Unfortunately good finishers like me and DK, we didn’t get bat to ball. If we had got a few boundaries, the game would have been over. We are going to go back to the drawing board. We have been playing some good cricket. It is just about moving from this game and going from strength to strength."
Russell, after having a bumper season with the bat in the IPL 2019, has done rather poorly in the cash-rich league. After failing in the first game of this season, the trend continued against MI too. Recollecting his own knock, which was nothing short of a struggle, the West Indies all-rounder stated that he was just looking to play the ball on its merit but things just didn't go his way in the knock.
“I was just playing each ball on its merit. Not trying to get out. Unfortunately, you get a delivery in the slot, and you think you can get it away... Luckily, I got dropped two times, and the third time, I wasn’t that lucky. It’s a game of cricket. We don’t try to do the wrong things all the time, but they happen. It’s part of the game. Sometimes luck goes your way. Sometimes it doesn’t, he said.
He further added that not getting runs put him under immense pressure.
"At that time, I was looking to rotate the strike, not allow too many dot balls. Once we would have ticked over, we knew we would have been good. I didn’t get any runs, and that’s what built a bit of pressure on me.”