‘My Fitness Is A Big Part Of That But …’ Andre Russell Opens Up On His Mental Health After Bowling Heroics In SRH vs KKR IPL 2024 Final

Kolkata Knight Riders all-rounder Andre Russell opened up on his mental health after his bowling heroics in the IPL 2024 final against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.

Russell used his variations to perfection and took three wickets – Aiden Markram, Abdul Samad, Pat Cummins – during his brilliant spell of 3 for 19.

Apart from Russell, Mitchell Starc (2/14) and Harshit Rana (2/24) also produced a clinical effort with the ball as Kolkata Knight Riders dismissed Sunrisers Hyderabad for 113, which is the lowest ever total in an IPL final.

Speaking during the mid-innings interval, Russell said that he is happy with his bowling performance. The 36-year-old all-rounder also revealed that he was mentally down for the last few years and is in a better space now.

“Very happy, very happy, especially getting three wickets in this game. We all know how important this game is. As big players, we all stood up tonight. Very happy with how I am bowling and very happy with how everyone’s bowling. Just being disciplined, bowling to the plans and trying to bowl less bad balls,” Russell told broadcasters.

“My fitness is a big part of that but mentally I am in a better space. I was mentally down for the last few years, going through a lot. At the end of the day, we stand firm, back ourselves and back the talent we have. My body is feeling very good, I want to stay this way for another couple of years,” he added.

The West Indies star also mentioned that KKR batters won’t take the target easily.

“We are not going to take it (target) lightly. These guys (SRH) are going to come out and try to defend this total. We have to make sure that we get a good powerplay. If we get 40-50 without loss or even one wicket down, we are on our way. The bowlers set it up very well. We as batters have to get the job done,” said Russell.

Earlier, SRH captain Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bat first. They were off to a disastrous start as they lost their top guns Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head with just six runs on the board.

SRH were in all sorts of trouble as Starc accounted for the wicket of Rahul Tripathi to leave them reeling at 21/3 in the fifth over.

Thereafter, Harshit Rana continued the good work and got rid of Nitish Reddy (13). Andre Russell dismissed Aiden Markram in his first over as SRH slipped to 62/5 in the 11th over. SRH could not recover from there and were eventually dismissed for 113 in the 19th over.