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Former Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar has stated that Andre Russell’s match-winning knock for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) against Punjab Kings (PBKS) was crucial as people would have questioned his place otherwise.
Russell was the Player of the Match for his blazing 42 of 23 balls against Punjab in match number 53 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Monday, May 8. Chasing 180, KKR got home by five wickets off the last ball.
KKR captain Nitish Rana contributed a defiant fifty in the chase before Russell and Rinku Singh (21* off 10) featured in a match-defining fifth-wicket stand of 54.
Sharing his thoughts on Russell’s brilliant innings, Gavaskar told Star Sports:
"He has been there and played a match-winning hand, you know, how Kolkata has seen. That's where he has come to the party. It was important for him to score because otherwise people would have said what is he doing and all that kind of things.
“He's got plenty of cricket, matches to win for his team and that's fantastic for the IPL because look what has happened.”
KKR’s win on Monday took them to 10 points from 11 games in the IPL 2023 points table. Four other teams also have the same number of points. Gavaskar compared Kolkata’s jump in the points table from No. 8 to No. 5 to Mumbai’s traffic.
He cheekily commented:
"Suddenly from being no. 8, KKR have climbed to no.5 and then there's a traffic jam that everyone keeps on talking. This is the kind of win which you see in Mumbai's traffic.”
Apart from KKR, Rajasthan, Bangalore, Punjab, and Mumbai are also on 10 points.
“He was one innings away” - Nitish Rana on Andre Russell
Speaking after the win, KKR captain Rana praised Russell and stated that a match-winning knock from the West Indian was always around the corner.
In the post-match presentation, he commented:
“Ten matches have gone, so we were all waiting for that one Russell innings to come. The kind of player he is, he was one innings away. I kept backing him and have been telling him, ‘you are just one innings away from playing your best inning’. He did that today [Monday] and got us two points.”
Kolkata Knight Riders’ next match against Rajasthan Royals at Eden Gardens on Thursday, May 11.
