'He wasn't happy with me' - Dinesh Karthik reveals how he solved his issues with Andre Russell during IPL 2019

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) didn’t have a great Indian Premier League (IPL) season last year. The team failed to make it to the playoffs, and there were murmurs of the team atmosphere not being healthy. The all-rounder Andre Russell‘s comments after losing against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) just confirmed it. He wasn’t happy with Dinesh Karthik’s captaincy and pointed out the wrong decisions that were made in the game.

Recalling the controversies KKR had to face, Karthik has revealed how he resolved the problems with Russell with an honest conversation. He praised the Caribbean for being open and honest with his comments while stating that Russell wasn’t happy with the team losing constantly.

Dinesh Karthik also sought his attention towards how he dealt with Russell’s comments in the media. If he hadn’t taken it sportingly, things could’ve gone in the wrong direction, according to the KKR skipper. “To be fair, he’s one of those guys who wears his heart on his sleeve. I am sure he meant whatever he said. But again, West Indies players are in your face kind of people.

“But whatever they say, they say it honestly and it’s up to how you take it. If you want to take it offensively, then the mistake is on your part. If you want to take it constructively which is how I looked at it. We had a conversation over it man to man,” he said while speaking in The RK Show on Youtube.

I have an honest relationship with him, says Dinesh Karthik

After his comments, Dinesh Karthik walked up to Russell and spoke with him. This is when the latter told his captain the mistakes he was making while leading the side. Russell was also apologetic for speaking it all out in public when he should’ve talked it to Karthik and the team management. But the duo then clarified the issues they had, and it ended well eventually.

“He wasn’t happy with me, he wasn’t happy that the team wasn’t winning, that is the bottom line. Whatever he said, I completely respected it. He was a little apologetic, as well. At the end of the day, I have a great relationship with him. If I didn’t have a great relationship with him, it could have spiralled into something nasty.

“Because I have an honest relationship with him where I can go straight up to him and be like ‘Russ you know what, I don’t think what you have said is right, because the way it has come out, it’s not great.’. He also said, ‘you know skip, this is how I felt about it, not how it’s come out.’ There itself half the battle is over.

“But then he had an issue. He said ‘we can do this better. I don’t think you are doing this way’. And then I had to explain ‘being a leader, I can’t completely please you but we can change things around but not exactly as you want’. Having different opinions and dealing with it is one of the most important things. I think you need to be able to stand up and have a conversation. Sometimes a hard conversation as well,” Dinesh Karthik added.