Lanka Premier League: 'This is News to Me'

The head coach of the West Indies, Phil Simmons, admitted he was unaware that star all-rounder Andre Russell was participating in the Lanka Premier League 2020. His suprise comes from the fact that Russel made himself unavailable for selection for West Indies' tour of New Zealand.

West Indies will play 3 T20Is followed by 2 Test matches on their tour to New Zealand. The two sides are set to square off in the first T20I at Auckland on Friday, 27th of November. They will, however, be without arguably one of the finest players in the format, Andre Russell.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) had earlier stated that Andre Russell, along with Lendl Simmons and Evin Lewis, had made themselves unavailable for selection.

"CWI fully respects their decision to choose to do so and states that this will not impact consideration for future selection" a statement from CWI read.

The reasons for Dre Russ' absence were unclear. But it was assumed that the it was something related to the hamstring injury that he had picked up during the IPL. Roger Harper, the lead West Indies selector, had earlier indicated that Russell might need some time off from the game.

"He (Russell) wasn't really handling the whole thing very well and that he needed some time to clear his head and get himself together because he's been going from one lockdown, so to speak, to another." said Harper

The Jamaican had initially made himself unavailable for the LPL after being signed in the draft before making himself available again. Russell is currently in Sri Lanka and will play for the Colombo Kings in the inaugural season of the Lanka Premier League

"Didn't know he was in Sri Lanka" - Simmons

Phil Simmons is the head coach of the West Indies

When questioned about Russell's participation in the LPL instead of being on the tour to New Zealand, the West Indies head coach seemed baffled.

"Is he? That's news to me" was Simmon's response. "I haven't spoken to him since we came down here (to New Zealand), He was at the IPL and I haven't spoken to him since then. I didn't know he was in Sri Lanka. I can't answer your question about that until I know what the whole situation is." continued the coach"

Russell will most likely be a part of the Colombo Kings lineup when they take on the Kandy Tuskers in the opening game of the LPL 2020 on the 26th of November.