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News India Live, Digital Desk: Amidst IPL 2026, an emotional and historical news has come out from the camp of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The KKR franchise has given a unique honor to its biggest match-winner Andre Russell and decided to retire his ‘number 12’ jersey forever. This means that in future no other player of Kolkata team will come on the field wearing jersey number 12.
Russell becomes part of KKR’s ‘Hall of Fame’ The relationship between Andre Russell and KKR goes back more than a decade. Russell started his journey with this team in the year 2014 and since then till now he has been the most reliable ‘finisher’ and trouble-shooter of the team. KKR management said that Russell’s contribution is not limited to just runs and wickets, but he has played a big role in shaping the team culture. After Sachin Tendulkar (No. 10) and MS Dhoni (No. 7), Russell has joined the few players whose jersey has been retired.
Russell’s fear on the field: words of statistics This player, known as ‘Russell Muscle’, has achieved seemingly impossible victories many times while playing for KKR. His strike rate and ability to hit sixes make him the most dangerous T20 all-rounder in the world in IPL history. Russell has played more than 100 matches for KKR and has scored more than 2000 runs as well as taken more than 100 wickets. To salute his selfless performance, the team has taken this historic step.
Andre Russell became emotional, said- “Kolkata is my second home” This legendary West Indies player expressed his feelings after the announcement of retiring the jersey. Russell said, “The love that Kolkata and the fans have given me is beyond words. The number 12 jersey was very close to my heart and it feels very proud to know that this number is now engraved with my name forever in the history of KKR.” Russell also thanked the Eden Gardens ground and KKR owner Shahrukh Khan.
What does it mean to retire a jersey? In the world of sports, retiring a player’s jersey is considered the biggest honor. This symbolizes that the player has made such a huge contribution to the team that no one else can take his place. This tradition is quite old in football and basketball (like Michael Jordan’s jersey number 23), but in cricket and IPL, till now only selected Indian legends had received this honor. Russell could become the first foreign player to be given such a big honor by an IPL team.