In the week before he bows out of international cricket, Andre Russell has singled out his unbeaten 43 against India in Mumbai during the 2016 T20 World Cup as the highest point of a 141-match West Indies career.
“Definitely [my best moment was] the 2016 World Cup, that semi-final game against India where I brought the team home, me and Lendl Simmons, and obviously the start that we got from the other batters,” Russell said in a Cricket West Indies (CWI) interview. “Chasing 190-plus in that semi-final in India, with the crowd supporting India only, that was already a bit of pressure, but the wicket was a very good wicket, so the confidence that we had in the changing room and the batters that were left to come, it gave me the freedom and the confidence to go out and play the role that I did.”
West Indies required 77 from the last 41 deliveries when Russell walked in at No.5. His 20-ball assault, finished with a flat swipe off Virat Kohli over mid-wicket, carried the side into the final with two balls to spare. They went on to beat England in Kolkata, claiming a second T20 title in four years.
“Obviously, two World Cups, it’s just a different emotion,” he said. “You sleep, you wake up [on the morning after the final], and you realise you’ve only been sleeping for two hours, but you feel well-rested because you just want to see what’s going on on the internet, you want to see all of those memories and all of those good comments.”
Russell, now 37, will end his West Indies journey after the opening two T20Is against Australia on 20 and 22 July, both at Sabina Park. He views the venue as the natural place to sign off.
“It’s a pretty good feeling,” Russell said, on signing off at his home ground. “I think, [from the] first time I came to Sabina Park as a kid, and then to actually walk on the grass and feel the atmosphere and look in the stands and everything, and [to] now, I’ve achieved so much out of cricket for the last couple of years. I did my best in every chance I got, representing West Indies.
“I think it’s the perfect ground and the perfect series – against a good team as well, Australia – to end my international career. By just seeing the [social-media] posts and seeing stuff going around on the internet, I get a bit emotional to be honest, but, you know, decision already made, and I think I’ve done well enough to actually say, yes, that’s it for me towards international cricket.”
Few players combine raw power with match-sense quite like Russell. His strike rate of 164 in T20Is places him among the most destructive finishers of his generation, yet injuries and franchise commitments meant he never quite became a regular in longer formats. Even so, former West Indies captain Darren Sammy often pointed to Russell’s “fearless clarity”, while current selector Desmond Haynes describes him as “the kind of cricketer oppositions plan whole team meetings around”.
Those qualities will be on display one final time in Kingston. Australia arrive with an experienced attack and, as ever, Russell’s back-end hitting against yorkers and slower balls will be one of the mini-contests to watch. For home supporters, though, the bigger picture is simple: two evening chances to applaud a player who, in his own words, has “done well enough” to say goodbye on his own terms.
