Shah Rukh Khan Advised Andre Russell To Retire From IPL, Reveals KKR CEO Venky Mysore

Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore has revealed that although there were continued discussions with Andre Russell regarding his release from the franchise ahead of the IPL 2026 mini auction, the idea to retire from the tournament and stay connected to the team came from co-owner Shah Rukh Khan.

Russell was released by KKR ahead of the December auction after 12 seasons with the team. While many expected Kolkata to buy him back,

or for another franchise to swoop in, Russell instead stunned fans by announcing his retirement from the IPL.

Russell opened up about his unexpected call, highlighting the physical and mental demands of competing in the world’s biggest T20 league. He admitted that sustaining top performance as an all-rounder across a full

season had become challenging, which contributed to his decision to step away from the IPL.

“I could see he (Russell) was agonising over it and, so when I shared this with SRK, it was SRK’s suggestion. Because, see, a player is thinking somewhere at the back of his mind, what happens after I hang up my boots?” Mysore said while speaking to ESPNCricinfo.

“But I don’t think they want to think about it so much because professional athletes are like that. They believe I am still good and Dre still is, he is fantastic and playing other leagues,” Mysore added.

The KKR CEO said that after making the decision, Russell looked very free in mind and had accepted it.

“It just felt like he was very free in his mind after making the retirement decision. Because the guy took a couple of catches, is sliding and diving and throwing. I sent him a note later, saying, “What’s going on here, Dre? How are you doing, power coach?” I was kidding him,” Mysore said.

“Everybody has started calling him a power coach and I think he loves it. We are very happy. I think he is very happy. He has completely accepted it, come to terms with it,” Mysore added.