The IPL giant of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Andre Russell, has blindsided everyone by revealing that he will retire on November 30, 2025! This was just close to the IPL mini auction when all the teams will make their roster changes, slated for December 16.
The versatile player has taken on the role of being behind-the-scenes support staff for KKR, but he has many more glorious tales as a cricketer ahead of him that made him one of the main characters in the purple and gold saga.
Besides being a bowler of great talent, in the IPL Russell has exhibited some perfected hitting that made him the very ruler of that 22-yard strip. The West Indies player has now announced his retirement from a format that crowned him as one of the kings and, here, we present the best innings played by Andre Russell in IPL.
Best Innings of Andre Russell in IPL
| Rank | Runs (Balls) | Opposition | Year | Venue | Match Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 80* (40) | Mumbai Indians | 2019 | Kolkata | KKR won by 34 runs |
| 2 | 66 (36) | Punjab Kings | 2015 | Pune | KKR won by 4 wickets |
| 3 | 48* (13) | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 2019 | Bengaluru | KKR won by 5 wickets |
| 4 | 88* (36) | Chennai Super Kings | 2018 | Chennai | CSK won by 5 wickets |
| 5 | 64* (25) | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 2024 | Kolkata | SRH won by 4 runs |
5) 65 off 25 balls vs RCB in 2019
First of all, we need to accept that Russell has simply been outstanding every time he played against RCB in all these years of the league; the same was the case in 2019 when the RCB match at KKR´s home ground was in the same line. After RCB set a gigantic score of 213 for KKR to get in the first innings, KKR was sent into deep trouble after losing Robin Uthappa in the 12th over with only 79 runs on the board and 4 wickets down.
Russell entered the field as number 6 and played 65 runs in just 25 balls before getting out through a run thanks to Kohli. His strike rate was 260.00, he hit 9 sixes and 2 fours, and his performance was outstanding but unfortunately, the remaining duo of Nitish Rana and Dinesh Karthik who were not out could not take the match to the end as RCB won by 10 runs.
4) 66 off 36 balls vs KXIP in 2015
This story takes us all the way back to a decade ago when Russell was just starting to bloom in the KKR camp having just been bought a year earlier. On a night of April 18, 2015, Andre Russell was the hero acting in Pune. Kolkata Knight Riders were in a terrible position having lost 5 wickets for just 60 runs in 8 overs, the match seemed over. But then Russell marched in and with pure, savage power, changed the plot.
Russell began his innings slowly, but he quickly transformed into a monster as he blasted 19 runs off the very first ball in the 13th over. With his barrage of sixes, the finest of which went 95 meters, he left no doubt about the winning team whose players were already celebrating a little less than 10 balls before the end of the match when the KXIP scored their last run.
3) 70 off 31 vs PBKS in 2022
Purple Gold once more went with the bat, and this time Andre Russell was the winner. Punjab Kings gave their target in the 8th match of 2022 and were bundled out for 137 runs, thanks to Umesh Yadav‘s 4 wickets haul and others who supported him adequately.
The target set was not mammoth but Kolkata Knight Riders found it difficult to play a fast game and lost 4 wickets for just 51 runs in 7 overs. Andre Russell, with his 31 balls 70, which was made of 8 sixes, 2 fours, and 225.80- running alongside a not out Sam Billings, came just at the right time to lead the team to victory in the end.
2) 80 off 40 vs MI in 2019
One of the most unforgettable innings of Andre Russell was against the Mumbai Indians back in 2019 when he made Eden Gardens vibrate with his 40-ball 80, writing down KKR’s name among the highest totals of IPL history.
After Shubman Gill had a blast for KKR with his 45 balls 76 and Chris Lynn’s 29 balls 54, Russell batting at number 3, came up the order and scored an unbeaten 80 runs from 40 balls at a strike rate of 200. The monstrous hitting of KKR enabled them to set a target of 232 in 20 overs and despite the mainstay of Hardik Pandya’s 91, Mumbai Indians stumbled throughout the chase.
Read Also:- Most Sixes in an ODI Innings by Virat Kohli: Full Breakdown & Records
1) 88 off 36 against CSK in 2018
Andre Russell, playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders, was a monster in the fifth IPL match of 2018 with a 36-ball 88. In Chennai, Russell played a huge innings that took KKR from a very precarious position of 5/89 to 6/202 as he scored an unbeaten knock with 11 sixes to his credit.
The monstrous rampage had a 244 strike rate and assisted Kolkata in accumulating a total of 202 runs after the top and middle-order batsmen had faltered. Still, it was a misfortune for Russell that the innings did not lead to a KKR victory, as significant contributions from CSK’s Sam Billings, Shane Watson, and Ambati Rayudu made CSK win the match with one ball to spare.
