If you disregarded every ball Andre Russell faced this season that didn’t sail over the ropes, he’d still rank 13th in the run-scoring charts.
How can that be? Well, 234 of his 377 runs scored in the 2019 Indian Premier League have come purely in sixes. That’s a staggering 62 per cent. Factor in the 23 boundaries he’s hit as well and that figure rises to a phenomenal 92 per cent.
Running between the wickets is great and all, but when you can stand and deliver like Russell, why bother?
As it is, the West Indies all-rounder is the fourth-highest scoring batsman in the ongoing IPL campaign, just one run short of third-placed Virat Kohli. The fact that he predominantly operates as a power-hitter in the lower order makes his numbers particularly impressive. His average of 75.40 is the highest in the top 10 and a frightening strike rate of 220.46 is by far the most superior.
That’s precisely why it’s not ludicrous to suggest that Pawan Negi’s fielding on Friday might so easily have cost Royal Challengers Bangalore only their second win of the campaign.
In fairness to Negi, it’s hardly his fault. This is not in reference to another in a long series of dropped catches and misfields for RCB this season – indeed Marcus Stoinis added to that catalogue early on when he dropped Chris Lynn in the slips off Dale Steyn’s innings-opening delivery.
No, this is about a catch that was taken successfully, one which dismissed a faltering Robin Uthappa and brought a real threat in Russell to the crease.
WATCH: 6+6+6 = Dre Russ special 😮😮
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 19, 2019
▶️▶️https://t.co/dshhKM4R45 #KKRvRCB pic.twitter.com/BVDoKCqZPj
Chasing 214, Kolkata Knight Riders found themselves reeling at 33/3 after five overs. It makes sense that Uthappa, along with Nitish Rana would decide to steady the ship but a steep and ever-climbing required run-rate meant that was a luxury they could scarcely afford.
The following five or six overs were excruciating for the home support as the pair poked and prodded their way through proceedings. While Rana belatedly switched gears and accelerated his own innings, Uthappa continued to struggle and Negi’s catch mercifully ended his misery with nine runs to show from the 20 balls he faced.
Another over or two with Uthappa in the middle might’ve put the game beyond even Russell and that further opens up the debate over ‘tactical’ dropped catches in T20 cricket.
As it were, Russell stepped in with 49 deliveries left and 135 runs required. It was an impossible scenario but with Russell in full flow and supported superbly by Rana, it quickly became RCB who were somehow staring down the barrel of an eighth defeat.
#AndreRussell YOU BEAUTY! 💜@Russell12A #KKRvRCB #VIVOIPL #KKRHaiTaiyaar pic.twitter.com/todLUzGW0X
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 19, 2019
The Jamaican bludgeoned a panicking bowling attack for nine sixes and two boundaries on his way to 65 off 25 balls. What’s truly terrifying of the man’s ability is that his innings had a sense of routine about it while the three crucial dot balls Stoinis managed against him in the 19th over were deemed miraculous instead.
In the end, KKR fell just short of what would’ve been an extraordinary innings revival, one that may have eclipsed their successful chase against RCB at the start of the season when Russell played an unbeaten 48 off 13 deliveries.
His ruthless batting at Eden Gardens nevertheless redefined the parameters of may be classed as ‘impossible’ in T20 cricket – so long as he’s at the crease.
Chris Gayle has long been regarded as the most devastatingly explosive batsmen in IPL history and he’s been no slouch this season either. But if Russell can maintain his current form, there’s every chance he dethrones his compatriot and begins his own reign of terror.
