IPL 2020: ‘You tend to get scared when he goes for the big one,’ says Kuldeep Yadav on bowling to Andre Russell
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) spinner Kuldeep Yadav has stated that he is “scared” to bowl to all-rounder Andre Russell in the nets because it is intimidating to see him line up for a big shot.
In an interview with News 18, the left-arm unorthodox spinner spoke about the impact of Andre Russell and his own experience of bowling to the West Indian big-hitter in KKR’s nets sessions. He said:
“To be very honest I don’t like to bowl to Andre Russell during the nets sessions because you tend to get scared when he goes for the big one, and sometimes he misses out and it comes straight to you.”
Bowling to Andre Russell prepares you to bowl at the death: Kuldeep Yadav
Kuldeep Yadav acknowledged that bowling to Andre Russell automatically prepares a bowler for the death overs when batsmen are looking for the big hits. The 25-year-old, who has picked 39 wickets in 40 IPL matches, said:
Click here to see IPL purple cap list 2020.
“Difficult to adjust yourself but yeah, if you are bowling to him you get a lot of experience to bowl in death overs or big hitting batsmen. It’s a good experience for me and he’s definitely one of the best T20 players and we’re lucky to have him.”
Andre Russell, who has the best strike rate – 186.41 – in IPL history, had his best season last year when he scored 510 runs in 14 matches. He was highly instrumental as KKR won four of their first five matches. The most notable of his performances were his 49 off 19 balls against SRH and the famous 13-ball 48 against RCB.
However, he injured his shoulder midway through the season and, his performances subsequently tapered off towards the end.
Andre Russell will have a shot at redemption in IPL 2020 and, if he can maintain the same intensity throughout the tournament, KKR can very well add a third IPL trophy to their cabinet.