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Andre Russell Reveals His Fondest Windies Memory — And It Involves A Kohli Heartbreak
Follow UsRussell is among very few players in the world to have won two T20 World Cups
It is the end of an era in West Indies cricket as Andre Russell, following the completion of the second T20I against Australia in Jamaica, will be hanging up his boots from international cricket.
With 141 international appearances to date - across three formats - Russell has enjoyed a fine career and has plenty of fond memories to choose from.
Still, he singled out his knock in the semi-final of the 2016 World T20 against India at the Wankhede, where he hit Virat Kohli for a six to send the Windies into the final, as his favourite memory in international cricket.
"Definitely [my best moment was] the 2016 World Cup, that semi-final game against India where I brought the team home, me and Lendl Simmons, and obviously the start that we got from the other batters," Russell said in a Cricket West Indies (CWI) interview, reported ESPNCricinfo.
"Chasing 190-plus in that semi-final in India, with the crowd supporting India only, that was already a bit of pressure, but the wicket was a very good wicket, so the confidence that we had in the changing room and the batters that were left to come, it gave me the freedom and the confidence to go out and play the role that I did."
One of the very few players in the world to have won two T20 World Cups, Russell spoke about the special emotions he felt when he woke up as a ‘champion’ after clinching the title.
"Obviously, two World Cups, it's just a different emotion," he said. "You sleep, you wake up [on the morning after the final], and you realise you've only been sleeping for two hours, but you feel well-rested because you just want to see what's going on on the internet, you want to see all of those memories and all of those good comments.
"So those are the two most important moments, playing for West Indies."
At 37, ‘Dre Russ’ is still going very strong at the franchise level, but he reckoned that the time was right for him to call it quits from international cricket. He will be doing just that on July 22, that too in front of his home crowd.
"It's a pretty good feeling," Russell said, on signing off at his home ground.
"I think, [from the] first time I came to Sabina Park as a kid, and then to actually walk on the grass and feel the atmosphere and look in the stands and everything, and [to] now, I've achieved so much out of cricket for the last couple of years. I did my best in every chance I got, representing the West Indies.
"I think it's the perfect ground and the perfect series - against a good team as well, Australia - to end my international career. By just seeing the [social-media] posts and seeing stuff going around on the internet, I get a bit emotional to be honest, but, you know, decision already made, and I think I've done well enough to actually say, yes, that's it for me towards international cricket."