File photo of Andre Russell.© AFP
Soon after West Indies coach Phil Simmons lamented players prioritizing playing in T20 leagues over representing their countries, star all-rounder Andre Russell took to Instagram to respond to his comments. “It hurts. There’s no other way to put it. But what can you do? I don’t think that I should be begging people to play for their countries. I think if you want to represent West Indies, you will make yourself available,” Simmons had been quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. Russell took to Instagram to share a picture of a news article on Simmons’ comments and captioned it “I know this was coming but am gonna stay quiet!!!”
Russell bookended his caption with clap emojis at the start and angry ones at the end.
Russell has appered in 67 T20Is and last represented the West Indies in the format in the 2021 T20 World Cup.
Players like Russell and Narine – who has not played for the Windies since 2019 – are part of several dometic leagues, like the Indian Premier League (IPL), Big Bash League and of course, the Caribbean Premier League.
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“Life has changed, in that people have the opportunities to go different places and if they choose that over West Indies, that’s just how it is,” Phil Simmons had said.
West Indies are currently in the middle of a T20I series against New Zealand.
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