Will KKR star allrounder play in the finals? Coach David Hussey reveals

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) mentor David Hussey in the post-match press conference on Wednesday hinted that star West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell might play in the final of the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) against Chennai Super Kings.

After playing three games in a row at Sharjah, the Knight Riders will be playing at the Dubai Stadium and may look to play Russell in place of Shakib Al Hasan, who formed a fantastic spin trio with Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine and worked very well for the two-time champions at the slow surface of Sharjah.

Asked about Russell’s fitness after KKR knocked out Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2, Hussey said, “He was bowling before the game (against DC) today, so he might be in the mix.”

KKR after bossing the game for the first 35 overs lost six wickets for seven runs and were almost brought on brink by the Delhi Capitals but the cool and calm head of Rahul Tripathi ensured that they got over the line with one ball to spare.

Asked if the team was concerned with the middle-order collapse, Hussey said, “No, I’m not concerned because they’re all classy players. They know how to play. (It) is just the difficult nature of these pictures, they have been playing on, makes the middle of players, sort of stand out, they are not getting their strike rate 200.

“They had to knuckle down and maybe a strike rate of 110-120, so not concerned, we are going to Dubai full of confidence and you just never know what’s going to happen,” he added.

For KKR, there are questions on the availability of the spinning all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who plays Bangladesh’s first game of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Oman on October 17, two days after the IPL final but Hussey reckoned that he will be available for selection.

“He (Shakib) is a fine player, has probably won us two games or contributed to two wins, so I’d like to think he is available, and I think, everybody’s going to be available for selection, so it’s going be a tough call by the head coach (Brendon McCullum),” said Hussey.