Andre Russel bowled a sensational spell of two overs against Mumbai Indians. He became just the second bowler in the history of IPL to take a fifer against the franchise. Needless to say, his bowling was the main reason why Mumbai could only manage an under par 152. They scored that in their allotted 20 overs and were all out.
He took the wickets of big hitters in the form of Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya. Consequently, Kolkata tightened the screws on Mumbai in the death overs. After the end of Mumbai innings, Russel was called for a bit of a chat by the broadcaster. Russel said:
“I am working very hard behind the curtains and taking all the responsibility. There is a chance of going for runs in the slog overs but then there is always a chance to take wickets. I always keep stretching in the field and jogging around the field I have to be ready to bowl the 18th over. Bowling against Pollard and Hardik is always a difficult thing. I am just happy we could restrict them. It is always good to get Polly (Pollard) dismiss early, we all know what he can do in the end of the overs”.
Russel is happy with his bowling!
Basically, Russel said that he had been working on his bowling for quite some time now. Accordingly, he wants to win matches not just with the bat but with the ball as well. In the death overs, there is always a risk of going for runs but then, he can pick up wickets as well. Hence, he goes on to describe that it is difficult to bowl to Pollard and Hardik in the death overs as just a small margin of error will result in the bowlers getting smashed.
In the end, he just seemed to be happy that he bowled well enough to take a five wicket haul against Mumbai Indians. Considering that these are just the starting days of IPL, we may see many more bowling spells of Andre Russel. Hence, that might happen in the upcoming matches of the lucrative tournament, as the season moves towards its business end.
Watch the video of his statement here:
