IPL 2021: Brendon McCullum explains why Andre Russell didn't play the final against CSK

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) head coach Brendon McCullum has explained why star all-rounder Andre Russell didn't play the IPL 2021 final against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Chasing a stiff target of 193 against CSK in Dubai on Friday, KKR fell short by 27 runs.

Brendon McCullum said Andre Russell tried hard to recover from his hamstring tear, but was still a 'big risk' to play in the final. He explained that recovery from hamstring injuries is difficult to determine. So he said KKR decided to stick with the same team that got them thus far in the competition.

While speaking at a post-match press conference, Brendon McCullum said about Russell:

"Yeah, look, Andre obviously had a hamstring tear early on in the competition. He worked unbelievably hard to try and get himself available. He was still at risk there. And I felt (if) it was a risk in a final, we just couldn't afford to take."

"And then we had another hamstring issue with Rahul Tripathi so, look, such is the nature of hamstrings that you are just never sure whether they are going to be fully healed or not, and it's such a big risk. "

Brendon McCullum added:

In the end, we decided to go for the guys who had done so well to get us into the final, and I am proud of all their achievements. It's a shame we fell short, but we were outplayed by a very good CSK side today."

Andre Russell strained his hamstring while fielding against CSK in a league game. He missed the subsequent few games, so KKR brought in Shakib Al Hasan as a replacement. The Bangladesh all-rounder proved key in KKR's success at the spin-friendly grounds in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.

However, many observers vouched for Russel's return to the KKR eleven even if he was not fully fit because of the flat nature of the Dubai wicket. In hindsight, they were probably right, as Shakib Al Hasan returned figures of 0-33 (three overs) and scored a golden duck.

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"Eoin Morgan captained as well as I have seen anyone captain in a T20 competition" - Brendon McCullum

Brendon McCullum also talked about the 'unique' combination of good captaincy and poor batting form of KKR captain Eoin Morgan in IPL 2021. McCullum lauded the Englishman for captaining as well as he has ever seen anyone do while ruing that Morgan's contribution with the bat just 'wasn't to be'.

McCullum said in this regard:

"Yeah, look, it's a really unique situation, wasn't it? He was really captaining out of his skin. He captained as well as I have ever seen him captain and as well as I have seen anyone really captain in a T20 competition."

"I thought he was driving the team forward with his captaincy, but unfortunately, the runs weren't there for him. No matter how hard he tried, we tried to put him in that position where he's been so successful - in those last five overs - in T20 cricket right throughout his career. But unfortunately, it wasn't to be."

The former New Zealand captained concluded by saying he hoped that Morgan and Dinesh Karthik would deliver under pressure in the final, but that wasn't to be. Brendon McCullum said in this regard:

"There are many examples over the years of guys who have struggled for form coming into big games, (and) they have been able to find something in that situation to get that performance. And that's what I was clinging on to tonight for both the captain and the vice-captain as well. But it wasn't to be. Those guys played their hearts out and did their absolute best, but just weren't able to get those performances that they would have liked..."

KKR ended the season as runners-up. That was impressive, as they had won just two of their seven games in the India leg of the tournament. Eventually, CSK were the better team on the day as KKR fell short of their third IPL title.