&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "IPL 2026 | Two matches done, How has Andre Russell fared as KKR's power coach?")
Andre Russell retired before the IPL 2026 but Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), for which he played more than a decade, kept him with the franchise as Power Coach. Russell is the first ever player to hold the position of Power Coach in IPL, in fact, the KKR are the first team to invent this position. After two matches in the tournament, the three-time champions are 0 for 2 for wins, once because of bowling and once for batting. This brings the question - how Russell has fared as the league's first ever power coach?
What's Russell role as KKR's power coach?
Known for his big hitting prowess, Russell has the role of helping the KKR's next gen of batter maximise their power by hitting sixes and take full advantage of field restrictions as well as death overs. Russell is the perfect fit for the role, given that he's only one of four IPL batters to smash 100 or more sixes in the death overs. MS Dhoni tops the list with 186, followed by Kieron Pollard's 127, AB de Villiers's 112 and Russell's exact 100.
How have KKR batters fared with Russell as power coach?
In their opening match against Mumbai Indians, KKR scored 220 runs while batting first but lost the match because of bowling and MI's fearless batting. Against MI, KKR scored 43 runs last four overs after hitting 78 in the first six overs of powerplay. Against SunRisers Hyderabad though, KKR were bowled out in 16 overs in chase of 227 but had managed 74 runs in the powerplay.
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It is clear that KKR batters are batting with intent to score as many boundaries in the first six and last four overs as possible. While the ploy has worked in one match and in powerplay during the second match, it is too early to tag Russell as a success or a failure as KKR power coach with 12 more matches to go in the league stage of them.
