Andre Russell back in action after serving year-long ban

West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell on Friday will play his first competitive match after a year when he represents Jamaica against Leeward Islands in domestic competition. Russell was serving a one-year ban after he was found violating the whereabouts clause under the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code.

New Delhi: West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell on Friday will play his first competitive match after a year when he represents Jamaica against the Leeward Islands in domestic competition. Russell was serving a one-year ban after he was found violating the whereabouts clause under the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code.

Russell was found guilty of the charge by a three-member independent tribunal in Jamaica. The one-year ban came to an end on January 30.

Russell will be representing Jamaica in the ‘Super50’ tournament but is unlikely to feature in all matches due to commitments in Pakistan Super League (PSL) which starts from 22 February in Dubai.  Post PSL, the acclaimed T20 specialist will be back in India for the upcoming season of the lucrative Indian Premier League.

Due to ban last year, Russell was not able to feature for the Indian franchise but the owners retained their faith in the all-rounder in the auctions and bought the T20 star for a whopping amount of Rs 7 Crores during players’ retention.

Seen as a potential captaincy material for the star-studded side, the 29-year-old would like to impress the owners with some blistering knocks before the extravaganza begins in the first week of April.

Russell has also expressed his willingness to represent Windies in the limited-over format. However, he has requested some time to regain fitness and confidence.

The versatile all-rounder has featured in 1 Test, 51 ODIs and 43 T20s for West Indies.