Andre Russell reminisces the pain of getting out to Rashid Khan, losing the IPL 2018 Qualifier 2
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder, Andre Russell, recalled the pain and the angst after his team narrowly lost the Qualifier 2 of the IPL 2018 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and missed out on the tournament final.
Chasing a target of 175 on a decent batting track at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, KKR could manage only 160/9 in response and suffered a bitter defeat by 14 runs.
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For Russell, the memories of that game are especially painful as he struck only 3 runs during his seven-ball stay before being dismissed by SRH wrist-spinner Rashid Khan.
Andre Russell was visibly heartbroken at not being able to see his team through when it needed him the most. In a chat with kkr.in, he has now revealed an anecdote from the night that further reflects how the defeat against SRH took an emotional toll on him.
Andre Russell reminisces the pain of getting out to Rashid Khan, losing the IPL 2018 Qualifier 2
“When I got out to Rashid Khan, I got back inside and went into shower with my cricket clothes on. My shoes and everything was wet. I was just there with the water running all over me because (the loss meant) it was basically the last game (of the season),” said Russell.
Russell feels especially aggrieved about getting out to Rashid with a shot lacking conviction in his final over of the game. Reacting to a googly that came into him sharply, Andre Russell went about looking for a cut shot through the off-side but only ended up edging the ball to the first slip.
What hurts Russell about that dismissal is that he didn’t get out in a characteristic fashion. “I didn’t get out being Dre Russ,” he said. “I started to overthink the game. That was actually a ball I could have put away, and that’s the moment where I knew I had messed up. If I was still batting at the back end, we would have won comfortably.”
Andre Russell’s wicket in the 15th over ended all hopes of KKR pulling off their chase as it left the onus entirely on the lower-order to bail the team out. Russell says his biggest lesson from that moment was to not let the situation, the bowler play with his headspace and not allow a sense of uncertainty and hesitation to creep in at any stage.
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“I was just disappointed with myself. That’s why I went into the shower with everything wet,” Russell said. “I was happy that no one saw me that way because it was embarrassing. People would have been like – ‘Are you losing it?'”
“I realised (from that incident that) if a bowler feels you are scared to lift your bat, they are gonna be all over you. You have to back off a bowler by playing shots sometimes,” he added.