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Former India cricketer Mohammed Kaif has criticised the Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) management for axing Andre Russell ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. He implied that Russell's abilities stood out, as hitting 100m sixes from the number seven spot is something only rare talents could do.

The Kolkata Knight Riders underwent a significant shake-up as they let go of multiple stars in their retention list. Among them was Andre Russell, who has been a Knight Rider for a significant amount of time.

KKR's decision to let Andre Russell go has triggered a wave of emotions among the fans. He has been a franchise stalwart and has often delivered when the team needed him the most.

Mohammed Kaif Calls Out KKR's Absurd Decision To Let Go of Andre Russell

Mohammed Kaif is unsettled over coach Abhishek Nayar and the KKR management's decision to release Andre Russell. With Cameron Green probably being on the three-time champions' priority list, the former Indian cricketer opined that even four cricketers like the Aussie star won't match Russell's level.

"The quality and power that Russell has, even four players like Green cannot cover that. The way he plays, he can hit 100m sixes as per will, and he has won them so many games from situations where the game seemed lost. He got that respect because of this ability.

"There are very few players like him at number seven. If you play Green at seven, he cannot score even half the runs of Russell. He bats up the order. I feel they should buy Russell back," Mohammed Kaif said in one of his videos on his YouTube channel.

Expect KKR To Spend Big At The Upcoming IPL 2026 Auction

The Kolkata Knight Riders are expected to go on a shopping spree at the upcoming IPL auction. So far, the franchise has retained stars like Ajinkya Rahane, Harshit Rana, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Rinku Singh, Umran Malik, and Vaibhav Arora.

With 13 slots to fill in the auction (of which six are overseas), the Kolkata Knight Riders have a purse balance of INR 64.30 crore. It is the highest among any other IPL franchises as they head into the auction.

Expect KKR to make some big-money spends in the auction to build a championship-winning team for the 2026 season.