Andre Russell announces IPL retirement; to stay at KKR as 'power coach'

Jamaican all-rounder Andre Russell on Sunday announced his retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL) and has opted to stay with his long-time franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as ‘power coach’.

KKR had released Russell ahead of IPL 2026 auction and the Caribbean star was expected to be among the most in-demand players at the event. However, his surprise announcement means he will not be playing IPL for the first time since 2012.

Russell to continue playing other leagues

In a video message on social media, Russell announced his retirement from IPL but said he will continue to represent the Knight Riders in other leagues around the world.

“I’ve made a decision to retire from the IPL. I’ll still be active playing in various leagues all around the world and all the other KKR franchises,” Russell said in a video message. “I had some amazing time and great memories. hitting sixes, winning games, MVP and all of those things. But sometimes you just have to know when to hang up the boots.”

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He said that he was completely sure of his decision and wanted to retire with fans asking ‘why, you still have some more in you, you still could go for a bit longer’ than say, ‘yeah, you should have done it years back’.

Russell revealed that he made the decision after conversations with KKR co-owners Venky Mysore and Shah Rukh Khan.

“There have been a lot of conversations, between me and Mr Venky Mysore, and also Mr Shah Rukh Khan, about another chapter in my IPL journey, and they have shown me respect and love and they appreciate whatever I have been doing in the field and to be in a set-up where I’m familiar, that matters to me a lot,” the Caribbean all-rounder added.

Russell, one of the fiercest hitters in the game, made his IPL debut for Delhi Daredevils in 2012 before being signed by KKR ahead of the 2014 season. Since then he made a legendary career at KKR and was part of their trophy-winning sides in 2014 and 2024.

Russell, the league’s MVP in 2019, played a total of 140 matches in IPL and scored 2651 runs at a stunning strike rate of 174.17. He also picked up 123 wickets in the league. His 227 sixes are the seventh most in IPL. He is one of the only two players to score over 2000 runs and pick up more than 100 wickets in the tournament.