Former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer believes retaining Andre Russell was a huge gamble by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction. The celebrated all-rounder is yet to fire in the competition.

injury issues continued to haunt him as he appeared to bowl gingerly during the defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Despite recurring injury concerns, KKR chose to retain him as their first-choice retention pick ahead of the Indian Premier League 2022(IPL).

The 33-year-old suffered a blow to his shoulder while trying to save a boundary but stepped up to bowl the final over in the match against RCB. However, RCB took him to the cleaners to seal a win.

Speaking on ESPNCricinfo about KKR’s decision to retain Andre Russell, Wasim Jaffer said:

“Retaining him was a big gamble, there is no doubt about it. Because you don’t know with his fitness whether he can bowl at the full tilt. Batting wise there is no question about it, but the only worry is whether he can bowl and can he bowl with the same pace and energy.”

“What I got from the last game was that he was limbering up in his last two overs, so that is going to be a big question mark,” he added. 

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“I believe he is the number one all-rounder in the world” – Chris Lynn on Andre Russell

Meanwhile, Russell’s former KKR teammate Chris Lynn backed the franchise’s decision to keep a hold of the player. The Aussie cricketer believes the Jamaican is the best all-rounder in the business.

“KKR retaining him is a no-brainer in my eyes. I believe he is the number one all-rounder in the world. You do take a gamble each time with his fitness and just because of the nature of the beast, he is so powerful, so he is going to be a little sore and back-to-back games might be a little tight for him but when it is crunch time, Dre Russ is 100 percent fit,” Lynn remarked. 

Andre Russell will hope to repay the trust shown by KKR in the game against Punjab Kings.

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