Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Brendon McCullum has backed the retention of Andre Russell amidst the star all-rounders tryst with multiple injuries. The former New Zealand captain and IPL centurion with KKR, McCullum argued that on his day, Russell is two world class players in one, and it is not easy to find a like for like replacement for him.
Sunil Narine and Russell have been proven campaigners for KKR for several years now and have already won two championships with them. KKR came close to winning last season under Eoin Morgan after an incredible second half turnaround but were defeated convincingly in the final game.
Apart from Russell and Narine, KKR have retained Varun Chakravarthy and Venkatesh Iyer, spending Rs 42 crores in total. It was expected that KKR would be retaining their opener Shubman Gill, after elevating him to the leadership group in the last two seasons, but that was not to be as the Indian Test opener chose to join Ahmedabad ahead of the mega auction.
Speaking on the same, McCullum said that it was disappointing to lose Gill, but he accepted it as part of life.