‘Still Willing to Put my Body on the Line for West Indies’: Andre Russell

West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell has revealed that he wants to represent his country once again in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Russell has been a mainstay in T20 leagues across the world. In a recent interview with the Jamaica Observer, Russell claimed that he is even ready to sacrifice T20 leagues to don the West Indies jersey. “I am available. I want to be a part of the next World Cup so that would be something special to me if they can add me to the squad. I am still willing to put my body on the line for West Indies”, the 35-year-old said.

Russell has played 67 T20I games, scoring 741 runs so far. In international cricket, the star all-rounder was last seen in action at the 2021 T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. He failed to impress at the T20 World Cup as the two-time champions crashed out without making it to the main draw. Russell has not been called up for international duty ever since. He had a quiet Indian Premier League (IPL) outing with Kolkata Knight Riders last time. He could score 227 runs in 14 games at an average of 20.64 in IPL 2023.

With India set to take on West Indies in a five-match T20I series in the ongoing tour, Russell feels that it would be a good opportunity to prove his mettle on the international stage. Russell could not earn a call-up to the squad for the T20I series against India. “There is an India series coming up that I would want to be a part of but no one has said anything to me,” Russell told the Jamaican news outlet. Despite the troublesome situation, Russell disclosed that he was training hard to maintain his fitness. Russell said that he was in touch with West Indies white-ball coach Darren Sammy but has not heard anything because of the World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe. “We [Sammy and I] spoke earlier when he just got the job. [But] then everything stopped,” said Russell.

West Indies failed to qualify for the ICC Men’s World Cup scheduled to be played in India later this year after a disastrous showing in the qualifier stage in Zimbabwe. Russell was not called up by the national selectors for any of those games either.