Melbourne Stars sign Andre Russell, West Indies allrounder set to feature in BBL after 4 years
Andre Russell was man of the match in the final of recently finished T10 league
The West Indies allrounder Andre Russell is all set to feature in the Big Bash League (BBL) after a gap of 4 years, as he has been signed by the Melbourne Stars for the ongoing BBL season. Russell has already played for Stars’ local rivals Melbourne Renegades and the Sydney Thunder from 2014 to 2017. Russell only recently won his team Deccan Gladiators the T10 league in Abu Dhabi with a blistering knock of 90 in the final against Delhi Bulls.
While Russell is a regular feature in the IPL and plays for KKR every single IPL season, he is not quite a regular in the other leagues as he picks and chooses tournaments based on his availability. The 33-year old allrounder has been retained as the first choice KKR player ahead of the next mega auction and is all set to feature in the IPL again next year.
The fact that Andre Russell has a good relationship with the Melbourne Stars’ head coach David Hussey who is also the batting coach of KKR might have helped Stars in signing Russell for the ongoing BBL. Russell is one of the very few West Indies players who will feature in the Big Bash League this season, as most of them are playing in the Lanka Premier League (LPL) at the moment.
Andre Russell will strengthen Melbourne Stars with both bat and ball
As far as Melbourne Stars are concerned, they haven’t had a perfect start in the ongoing BBL as they have played one game so far and lost it. They would hope with Russell coming in now, they take their performance a couple of notches up, as Russell’s arrival won’t just strengthen them with the bat, it will also strengthen them with the ball.
Andre Russell is someone who, apart from being the premier finisher of KKR, is also one of their main death bowlers and bowls the most difficult overs in the IPL, which is one of the reasons why KKR has got him as their first retention before the mega auction.
