As the IPL 2026 approaches, three-time title holders KKR made a major announcement on Tuesday. The announcement was led by Ajinkya Rahane that they will retire the jersey no. 12 of Andre Russell.
In 2023, Royal Challengers Bengaluru had retired two jersey numbers. First, No. 17 of South African legend AB de Villiers. Second was the No. 333 of West Indies Legend Chris Gayle.
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CEO of KKR, Venky Mysore, on Jersey Number 12
He explained the reason behind the tribute by speaking at the event: “We’ve had a long association with Andre Russell, not just with KKR but also on a personal level. On the field, he has given us so many reasons to celebrate his performances over the years. He always wore the number 12 proudly, and the number is so unique to Dre Russ that we wanted to share a fitting tribute. So, in the Knight Riders tradition of starting a new legacy, we’d like to retire this number for KKR in his honour.”
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Andre Russell Gets Emotional After KKR’s Special Honour
KKR has appointed Andre Russell as their power coach. As per cricket country, he expressed his feelings by saying, “It has been over a decade of amazing achievements with this franchise, and I got a bit emotional watching the video. To be a part of two championship-winning teams with KKR, and to see what it means to everyone, that’s an amazing feeling. When you win a World Cup, that feels special, but when you win the IPL, it’s something different. I just want to say thanks to this franchise for making this journey so special for me.”
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Andre Russell Stats for KKR
He has played 140 IPL matches for KKR and scored 2,651 runs with a strike rate of 174.17, and he has also taken 123 wickets. In addition, as per cricket country, he is the only all-rounder to have 2,000 plus runs and 100 plus wickets. He has also taken 5 wickets against the Mumbai Indians and only conceded 15 runs, which were his best bowling figures.
With the bat, he was the most valuable player of the tournament in IPL 2019. He scored 510 runs with an average of 56.66 and a strike rate of 204.81.