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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) star all-rounder Andre Russell has got the offer from Sourav Ganguly to join Pretoria Capitals for the SA20’s 2025-26 edition. Ganguly, who is Director of Cricket for JSW Sports, looked impressed with Russell’s extraordinary performance for KKR against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 game, played at the iconic Eden Gardens on May 4. Taking RR’s bowling attack to the cleaners, Russell racked up an unbeaten 57 off just 25 balls. His innings was studded with 10 boundaries (four fours and six maximums). Riding on his sensational innings, Kolkata reached a total of 206/4 in their 20 overs.
KKR won the game by a close margin of one run and Russell also got the Player of the Match (POTM) award for his fiery knock. As per prominent sports journalist Sumit Ghosh, Ganguly has offered a proposal to Russell to play for JSW Sports’ Pretoria Capitals, a franchise team in the SA20 League. Former India captain was present at the stadium to witness the game between KKR and RR. Following the contest, he also met KKR’s Caribbean stalwart and extended the offer to the 37-year-old.
KKR keep their IPL 2025 playoffs chances alive
Playing at their backyard, Kolkata held their nerves in the close contest against the Pink Army and bagged one-run win. Saving 22 runs in the match’s final over, Vaibhav Arora got hit for three boundaries by Shubham Dubey but on the final delivery, the pacer stood tall and gave away only one run against the left-handed batter and defended three runs successfully.
Kolkata have now hoarded 11 points in their 11 matches and they will now be required to win their remaining matches to advance to the playoffs. Their upcoming contests are against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
