Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter feels Cameron Green, the INR 25.20 crore player from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), is not even close to Andre Russell by any means. The Knight Riders picked Green using all their might after they released Russell ahead of the IPL mini-auction.
Andre Russell too soon announced his retirement from the IPL. The former West Indies all-rounder had announced his international retirement last year. Russell went down with 2500+ runs and 123 wickets across 115 IPL innings.
He won two IPL titles with the Kolkata Knight Riders back in 2014 and then after a decade in 2024. He was also one of their most valuable assets after he was named the Most Valuable Player across IPL seasons.
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Cameron Green is not even close to Andre Russell-Mohammad Kaif
Kolkata felt that Australian all-rounder Cameron Green, who is young and dynamic, would be more than just a replacement for the veteran Andre Russell. However, Mohammad Kaif doesn’t feel the same way.
The former DC coach believes that Green is a promising batter, but when compared to Andre Russell, he is not even near his impact. Russell had the reputation of finishing off games for the Knights. He rescued them from the toughest of situations.
“Cameron Green is not even close to Andre Russell. He is a good batter, but the difference is huge when you compare with Russell,” a former RCBian remarked.
No, no, Russell’s absence won’t be filled- Mohammad Kaif
The former player then continued and said that not only Cameron Green, but also West Indian batter Rovman Powell cannot fill in for Russell’s void. This is because the former all-rounder had a golden arm and picked up wickets every time he was handed the ball.
“No, no, Russell’s absence won’t be filled (by Powell). He contributed a lot with his batting and was also a golden arm. He didn’t get to bowl four overs at times, but whenever he bowled, he took wickets. His void cannot be filled even by Cameron Green,” he added.
Shah Rukh Khan…….requested him to take up a coaching role- Kaif’s bold declaration
Mohammad Kaif opined that KKR might not have wanted to repeat the same mistake with Russell as they did at the time of releasing Chris Gayle, who went on to wreak havoc in the IPL, but for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
“I feel that they didn’t want to repeat what happened with Chris Gayle. Andre Russell still plays in different leagues and has not completely retired.
“I think there was a change in plan later on, as KKR felt that if this guy goes into the auction and does what Chris Gayle did after being released, they would be committing the same mistake twice,” he noted.
He also claimed that the KKR owner Shah Rukh Khan might have intruded and requested Russell to continue as a coach for KKR and help the new kids with some power-hitting coaching.
“They later decided to talk to him and get him in the support staff. We all thought he was going to be released, but maybe Shah Rukh Khan got involved and spoke to him and requested him to take up a coaching role to help other players,” he added.
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