KKR would've won more IPL titles if I had Andre Russell for longer: Gautam Gambhir
Former Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir has revealed if Caribbean power-hitter Andre Russell played few more years under his leadership then, the Kolkata-based franchise would have won more IPL titles.
Gambhir is one of the most successful captains in IPL history, under his captaincy, KKR claimed two titles one in 2012 and the second in 2014.
"Imagine Russell going for Rs 50 lakhs to KKR and Pawan Negi for Rs 8 crores to (Delhi) Daredevils. I probably wished that he (Russell) would have been there for seven years when I was playing, we would have certainly won one or two more," Gambhir said while speaking on Star Sports ‘Cricket Connected' show.
Russell, who is the backbone of KKR franchise from the past few years, started his IPL journey with Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals). Things didn't go as per plan in Delhi franchise for Russell due to injuries, which resulted in lesser games for him in the tournament.
In the 2014 IPL edition KKR brought Russell in their team. But he could feature in only a couple of games in that season. However, the tide changed for good in 2015 and it saw Russell score 326 runs at an astounding strike-rate of 192. He also starred with the ball and picked up 14 wickets.
The 2016 edition saw him perform predominantly with the ball as he picked 15 wickets besides scoring 188 runs. KKR made it to the play-offs but failed to make it to the finale.
After serving a one-year ban, the West Indies all-rounder ended up with 13 wickets and more than 300 runs in the 2018 season. In the last season, Russell scored a massive tally of 510 runs besides picking up 11 wickets.
In total, Russell has so far played 64 IPL matches in which he has scored 1,400 runs and picked up 55 wickets.
The 2019 IPL was the best for Russell as he was at his destructive best throughout that season. Russell slammed 510 runs in 14 matches at an astonishing strike rate of 204.81. He was also adjourned as the Most Valuable Player of 2019 IPL.
