IPL 2021: Brendon McCullum explains why Andre Russell missed the final outing against CSK

Andre Russell had picked up a hamstring injury and had missed consecutive games in the UAE leg of IPL. However, it was speculated that he would make it to the playing XI for the finals against CSK. The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) head coach Brendon McCullum has thus opened up on why the all-rounder did not feature in the marquee clash.

Russell had picked up the injury whilst fielding in a league game against CSK. McCullum stated that the all-rounder tried hard to recover from his hamstring injury and be available for the match but there was still a risk to play him. The coach further added that in the end, the management decided to go with the same winning combination that got KKR to the finals.

“Yeah, look, Andre obviously had a hamstring tear early on in the competition. He worked unbelievably hard to try and get himself available. He was still at risk there. And I felt (if) it was a risk in a final, we just couldn’t afford to take. In the end, we decided to go for the guys who had done so well to get us into the final, and I am proud of all their achievements. It’s a shame we fell short, but we were outplayed by a very good CSK side today,” Brendon McCullum said while speaking at a post-match press conference.

Morgan captained the side well: Brendon McCullum

KKR witnessed a great turnaround in the UAE leg of the IPL. The team did not have a good run in the first half of the tournament but bounced back stronger to exude great character in the second half. The head coach of the side thus heaped praises on Morgan’s captaincy and also touched upon his form with the willow.

“Yeah, look, it’s a really unique situation, wasn’t it? He was really captaining out of his skin. He captained as well as I have ever seen him captain and anyone really captaining in a T20 competition. I thought he was driving the team forward with his captaincy, but unfortunately, the runs weren’t there for him. No matter how hard he tried, we tried to put him in that position where he’s been so successful – in those last five overs – in T20 cricket right throughout his career. But unfortunately, it wasn’t to be,” McCullum added.