IPL 2021: Andre Russell reacts after Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘disappointing’ tweet on KKR’s loss against MI

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), on Tuesday, April 13, slumped to a 10-run defeat at the hands of Mumbai Indians (MI) in their second game of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL). After electing to field first, KKR restricted Rohit Sharma and Co to 152 courtesy of a five-wicket haul from Andre Russell. In their run-chase, the Knights were cruising after Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill’s 72-run stand.

However, it was Rahul Chahar’s four-fer that helped MI make a comeback. The other bowlers, especially Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, and Krunal Pandya, didn’t give the KKR batters much to work with either. In the end, the Knights got to only 142 runs.

In the meantime, Shah Rukh Khan, the co-owner of the Knight Riders, wasn’t pleased with KKR’s performance. The Bollywood actor dropped a tweet, expressing his anguish after the Men in Gold and Purple snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

I support that tweet: Andre Russell

Russell, whose efforts with the ball went in vain, opined on the tweet. Despite the loss, the Jamaican sounded confident of his team’s performance and vowed to make a comeback going forward.

“Yeah, I support that Tweet but at the end of the day the game of cricket… you are not sure until it’s over. I think we are still confident, we still played some good cricket and I am proud of the boys. You know, we are definitely disappointed but it’s not the end of the world, it’s only the second game and we are going to learn from it,” Russell said in the post-match press conference.

“I just think it’s a game of cricket. I have played hundreds of T20 games and I have seen games where teams cruise in on the driver’s seat and then suddenly lose a few wickets, and that’s what happened tonight. So, we definitely have to learn from this. We will look to make sure that who’s in, stays in and once we learn from all these mistakes we will definitely do better. I have trust and confidence in the boys,” he added.

The Knights are next scheduled to lock horns with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on April 18 at the Chepauk. Eoin Morgan and Co are currently placed fifth in the points table.