Andre Russell’s lower batting position debunked by Venky Iyer who says it is a combination of factors determines how early or late he bats.
Andre Russell’s batting position has been talked about quite often this IPL so far. And the biggest question being asked is: Is Andre Russell batting too low for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2025?
He was dropped to No. 8 against the Mumbai Indians (MI), and he hasn’t batted higher No. 7 in four innings thus far. This season, he has faced 20 balls and amassed 17 runs.
On the eve of KKR’s match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Chepauk, Venkatesh Iyer was asked this topic and responded that Russell’s batting position was chosen by a variety of variables.
“I think from the analytics point of view, entry point is a huge thing,” Venkatesh said. “Once you assess if a certain pitch is going to suit an individual or not, you decide his entry point whether it will be early or give him a few overs.
“Obviously, people [outside] would be talking about when he should come and when he should not. But we should not forget that we have Rinku Singh also. We have Ramandeep Singh also. Yes, Dre [Andre Russell] has been doing this for a very long time, but we have got able competition for him as well.”
Maintaining left-right combinations is also important to KKR. Following Venkatesh’s dismissal in the 13th over, KKR put Rinku at No. 6 ahead of Russell in their season opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Eden Gardens. After Ajinkya Rahane holed out in their most recent match against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at Eden Gardens, KKR moved Ramandeep Singh up to No. 5 ahead of Rinku and Russell and teamed him with Venkatesh.
“When all these players come together in a combination, it is very difficult for opposition to bowl at them,” Venkatesh said. “And there are a lot of grounds where we also have to consider maintaining a left-right combination. So, there are a lot of things that delay or alter a certain batter’s entry positions, but trust me, everything within the team is well thought of. We have 600 matches of experience in DJ Bravo (KKR mentor). So, we have a lot of experience and every decision that they make is well thought of.”