The biggest showdown of the Indian summer is going on. After an exciting season of the IPL 2024, the tournament has reached the final match. After having a dominating season, Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunriosers Hyderabad are facing each other at the M. A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. KKR’s bowling excellence set the stage on fire. After the first innings ended, KKR’s star all-rounder Andre Russell talked about this mental struggle.
Russell’s Mental Struggle:
Throughout the season, Kolkata Knight Riders showcased their excellence against the other opponents. Since the beginning, they emerged as a mighty side and are on the way to ending up like this. In this whole season, Kolkata Knight Riders All-Rounder Andre Russell shined bright with both with bat and the ball. In crucial matches, he contributed to both departments. But the last few years were not easy for the Caribbean star. After the end of the first innings, he talked about this.
While talking about his mental issues, Andre Russell said, “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.
Even in the last year of IPL, Andre Russell was facing setbacks. In 14 matches, he secured 7 wickets with an economy rate of 11.34. With the bat, he scored only 227 runs with a highest score of 42. But since the beginning of this edition of the tournament, he made a remarkable comeback which benefited Kolkata Knight Riders.
On His Performance and the Final Goal:
In this match, Kolkata Knight Riders gave a dominating start. Using the situation rightly, KKR all-rounder Andre Russell shined bright. While bowling in the first innings, he picked up three crucial wickets of Aiden Markram, Abdul Samad, and Pat Cummins by only conceding 19 runs with an economy rate of 7.6.
While talking about this, he said, “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.”
KKR has restricted Sunrisers Hyderabad to just 113 runs. The target is not difficult to reach and lift the trophy. But Russell is not going to take it easily. He said, “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.”
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