Andre Russell decides to retire from the IPL as he joins the KKR coaching staff in what is defined as a ‘power coach’.
Andre Russell retires from IPL, to join KKR as ‘power coach’.
The legendary Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player Andre Russell revealed that he will be joining the team’s support staff as its “power coach” in place of continuing his IPL career after being let go by the team prior to the 2026 season.
“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, you know, 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.”
“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.”