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West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell will retire from international cricket after playing the first two T20Is of the five-match series against Australia. The matches are scheduled to be played on his home ground on July 20 and 22 at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica. Both the teams are set to play five T20Is against each other in the series, and 37-year-old Andre Russell has been included in the squad for the first two matches.
In an interview with Cricket West Indies, Andre Russell reflected back to talk about his proudest moment wearing the West Indies jersey. "Definitely (my best moment) the 2016 World Cup, that semifinal game against India where I brought the team home," said Russell, as per ESPNcricinfo. He walked in at No. 5 during a chase of 193 against the tournament hosts India when West Indies needed 77 off 41 balls, and Russell ended up scoring an unbeaten 43 off 20 deliveries.
"Chasing 190-plus in that semi-final in India, with crowd supporting India only, that was already a bit of pressure, but the wicket was a very good wicket, so the confident that we had in the changing room and the batters that were left it gave me confidence to go out and play the role that I did," said Russell while talking about his attacking innings, to seal his team’s victory he smacked Virat Kohli’s delivery over midwicket and ended the game with two balls to spare.
Andre Russell won T20 World Cups in 2012 and 2016 for West Indies
Riding on a good team combination, West Indies went on to beat England in a thrilling final in Kolkata. In the match he took the wicket of Alex Hales in the second over of the innings with a new ball. While recollecting his World Cup triumphs, he said, "Obviously, two World Cups, it's just a different emotion," he said.
"You sleep, you wake up (on the morning after the final), and you realise you've only been sleeping for two hours, but you feel well-rested because you just want to see what's going on on the internet, you want to see all of those memories and all of those good comments, so those are the two most important moments, playing for West Indies," he added. Russell was also part of the West Indies team that won the T20 World Cup in 2012. He will become the second high-profile West Indies player after Nicholas Pooran, to quit international cricket in less than two months.
