Andre Russell's IPL form attracts interest of the BBL clubs ahead of the upcoming season

The ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season witnessed some brute hitting from Andre Russell who played for the Kolkata Knight Riders. His amazing consistency and ability to win matches for the team from a hopeless position stunned many. Not surprisingly, he ended up with 510 runs to his name in 13 innings at an unreal strike-rate and average of 204.82 and 56.67 respectively. His form has attracted the Big Bash League (BBL) teams’ interest as well.

Despite its popularity, BBL has always lacked the glare and flair of some of the big names in the shortest format. IPL is one league in which most of the active players take part and that is the reason why it touted as one of the best tournaments in the world. Cricket Australia (CA), in its attempt to rope in some big names, announced it would allow clubs to sign up to six overseas players over the course of the BBL.

However, only two overseas players can feature in the playing XI and the 18-man roster. On the other hand, in IPL, four foreigners are allowed in the XI and a maximum of eight could be present in the 23-man squad.

Budget for big players is the main issue

Earlier this week, it was reported that AB de Villiers was set to ink a deal with one of the teams at a whopping price of A$ 350,000. But he has pulled out his interest now and other players, notably Andre Russell’s name is popping up among the teams according to ESPNCricinfo. Having said that, the Caribbean is also expected to demand a similar price and it remains to be seen if CA offers assistance like it did in De Villiers’ case.

If all the requirements meet, it will be interesting to see which team manages to secure Russell’s services for the upcoming season.

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