Kolkata Knight Riders all-rounder Andre Russell had a poor campaign with the bat till Sunday when he smacked a 25-ball 57 to turn the momentum of the batting innings for the hosts against the Rajasthan Royals. Every time Russell tends to have a good season, KKR invariably does well however, fitness has been a concern that has been hanging around his neck. However, his teammate Varun Chakarvarthy revealed that Russell could get through another two to three cycles of IPL. "As far as I've spoken to him and interacted with him, he still wants to play another two or three cycles of the IPL - which is easily six more years. He looks fine and fit. It doesn't matter how old you are, as long as you're contributing to the team. That's the mindset. In franchise cricket, no one's going to question that," Chakarvarthy said in a post-match conference. Russell, promoted up the order, started with caution considering the number of overs left as got off the mark with a single off the 6th delivery he faced. At times through Russell's career, there have been concerns over him playing the spinners, but Chakarvarthy conceded that Russell can handle himself against the tweakers well. "That's not true - it's not like he can't hit spin. He can hammer spin; we've all seen it before. Even in net practice, he smashes it. But today, he chose a different approach, and that was very smart from him. I could see that, and I can tell you it's part of his development," said Varun Staying in race Chasing 205 runs Riyan Parag and a late cameo by Shubham Dubey almost helped Rajasthan Royals pull off a Jos Buttler-esque heist but fell short by one run as the Kolkata Knight Riders pulled themselves back from the brink of defeat at the Eden Gardens. With the narrow win, KKR kept themselves alive in the race for play-offs while Rajasthan Royals lost another close-run affair.
