Big Take: KKR Star Says Country Didn't 'Invest' In Him Like His IPL Team

Kolkata Knight Riders, despite some pre-season injury hiccups, have been dishing out inspiring performances. With three wins in eight games they are at the seventh spot. The Nitish Rana-led team has showed gumption to fight against sides with better star power. Andre Russell is an important member of the team. The West Indies all rounder has been part of the KKR side since 2014. In eight matches of the IPL 2023 so far,  Rusell has scored 108 runs and has taken five wickets. He recently spoke about the contribution that KKR have in his cricket career.

"KKR actually make things happen for me when they sent me to get proper treatments on my knees. That's something special to me to be honest. No other franchise or even my country never really invest that much on me," Russell said in a video posted on KKR's YouTube channel.

"I'm happy here. I don't see any other franchise that I would really love to be a part of in this tournament because I've been here for about 9 years now. Being here for so many years, and meeting these guys, get closer to them every year. When cricket isn't not being played, I'm still in communication with Mr Venky (Mysore). I look up to him, I really respect him," the all-rounder further stated.

A resurgent Gujarat Titans, boasting a power-packed bowling unit, will come in the way of Kolkata Knight Riders' revival hopes when the two teams cross swords in the IPL on Saturday. The home side's misfiring campaign finally came on track after they fired in unison to snap their four-match losing streak with a convincing win at Bangalore. In a season their Caribbean star duo of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine are yet to fire, the low-profile KKR side without their regular skipper Shreyas Iyer may just have found a trump card in Jason Roy.

The Englishman set the tempo with a fiery half-century for the likes of Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh and David Wiese to capitalise and set a winning total of 201 against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Included only in their sixth match of the season, Roy has scores of 43, 61 and 56 in three matches and KKR's batting will once again centre around him.

The win lifted KKR to seventh in the 10-team standings but they still have a long way to go to make the playoffs.

With PTI inputs

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