Andre Russell, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) legend, has decided to call time on his IPL career after not being retained by the franchise ahead of the 2026 season, and announced that he would be joining the team's support staff as its "power coach".
"I've made a decision to retire from the IPL. I'll still be active playing in various leagues all around the world and all the other KKR franchises," Russell said in a video message. "I had some amazing time and great memories. hitting sixes, winning games, MVP and all of those things. But sometimes you just have to know when to hang up the boots. When I made this decision, I just felt like 'yes, this is the best decision'. I don't want to fade out. I want to leave a legacy and it's best to retire when fans ask 'why, you still have some more in you, you still could go for a bit longer' than say, 'yeah, you should have done it years back'.
"We are part of the Instagram world, so when you're going through your feed, you keep seeing yourself in different jerseys and, you know, friends, team-mates sending you stuff and, like, 'you're looking good in this jersey, what do you think' and I'm like, 'hmmm, I look weird in that jersey'. And it's just those thoughts that's been going through my head. I had a few sleepless nights. There have been a lot of conversations, between me and Mr Venky Mysore, and also Mr Shah Rukh Khan, about another chapter in my IPL journey, and they have shown me respect and love and they appreciate whatever I have been doing in the field and to be in a set-up where I'm familiar, that matters to me a lot."
Russell, who was part of KKR's title-winning teams in 2014 and 2024, was also the IPL's Most Valuable Player in 2019. Russell won 16 Player-of-the-Match awards at KKR, only behind Sunil Narine's mark. And that long association has been strengthened with a position in the team's support staff as "power coach".
"So Kolkata, I'll be back. I'm here now just to say that I'll be a part of the KKR support staff," he said. "When I heard that name, you know, coming from Mr Venky, I said, you know, 'power coach, hmmm'. That describes Dre Russ. That describes Andre Russell, because the power that I possess when I bat, the energy that I show in the field, with the ball in hand, I can help in any department."
Russell made the news public on Sunday, which also is the last day for players to register for the next IPL auction, which will be held in Abu Dhabi on December 16.
The crew on KKR's decision to release the iconic all-rounder from their team
At KKR, Russell will be part of a new-look back room, to be headed by new coach Abhishek Nayar, who has replaced Chandrakant Pandit. Tim Southee has been appointed bowling coach, Shane Watson has joined as assistant coach, and Dwayne Bravo remains in his capacity as team mentor.
As for releasing him ahead of the latest auction, the franchise had deliberated the move ahead of the 2025 mega auction too, before deciding to stall that call. Russell had retired from international cricket in July, having only played the T20 format after the 2019 World Cup. Ahead of the 2025 mega auction, Russell was among the five players retained by KKR, for INR 12 crore. But as per the IPL's retention formula, INR 18 crore was added to KKR's purse for the 2026 auction once they released Russell.
Russell was among the big names released by KKR along with Venkatesh Iyer, Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and others. KKR will have the strongest purse at the IPL auction with INR 64.3 crore, but with just 12 players currently they have a lot of slots to fill.
Russell, 37, has been a constant for the franchise since IPL 2014, after starting out with Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2012. A bona fide T20 great, Russell is also a legend of the IPL, one of only two players to score over 2000 runs and pick up 100 wickets in the tournament, Ravindra Jadeja being the other.
In 133 appearances for KKR over the years, Russell scored 2593 runs with 12 fifties, and scored at a strike rate of 174.96, hitting 220 sixes along the way. With the ball, he picked up 122 wickets, including three four-wicket hauls, and took 40 catches.