Neglected my knee because I wanted to look s*x* for girls, reveals Andre Russell

One of the finest T20 players in the world right now, West Indies star Andre Russell has revealed that he wanted to look sexy for girls and is now paying the price for ignoring the pain in his knee. The hard-hitting allrounder Jamaican is widely regarded as the most devastating batsman in the world right now. His performance in the last edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) pretty much established him as an elite T20 player.

And as the West Indies star kept taking the cricket world by storm, he has delivered some words of wisdom for the budding cricketers. For all the youngsters who want to be the next Andre Russell, the pace-bowling allrounder advised them to focus on working on their lower part of the body. He revealed his mistake in taking care of his knees and advised the youngsters to learn from it.

“Those who want to be another Russell should never do what happened to me,” Andre Russell was quoted as saying by Gulf News. “When I was 23 or 24 I began to get knee pain,” he said.

“If I had someone tell me: ‘Look Russ, you should get your knee stronger by keep doing these simple exercises, I would have been pain-free from my knees and hopefully I wouldn’t have to have had surgery. Unfortunately, at 23 you are fearless, and I used to ignore that pain and I always gave it a quick fix by taking pain killers and kept running.

“By the time I reached my late twenties I started feeling the pain like I never felt before. The wear and tear began to show up. If I was doing those strengthening exercises like training of the legs and doing the right things, I would have been fitter,” he added.

Andre Russell will be in India soon for IPL

While Andre Russell has never shied away from working hard on the field and off it, the reason behind his knee problem is not a lack of dedication but something else. The all-rounder revealed that he never focused on his knees and just worked on his upper body in order to impress the ladies. He rued his mistake as he said he could have done more wonders on the field had he focused on working on his legs.

“I want the youngsters to know that guys should not just think about the upper body alone,” he explained. “I used to go to gym and just work only on my abs and my shoulders because I wanted to look sexy for the girls. At the end of the day being sexy and then your legs being weak, don’t work. So it is very important to have a complete work out of the body. I could have done more wonders had I worked on my legs too.

“I have been struggling with my knees and I cannot really get to do what I want to do in the middle but still I can stand and hit the balls for fours and sixes,” he added.

Meanwhile, Russell will be in India soon for the upcoming season of the IPL. He will be plying his trade for Kolkata Knight Riders.

Freehit: 20 Questions with Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza