India, Dec. 2 -- West Indies' T20 great Andre Russell, on Sunday, announced his retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL). The revelation came just days after he was shockingly released by the Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the mini-auction for the IPL 2026 season. And although the franchise hired him back, albeit as a 'power coach', KKR's toughest call, to end their 12-year tie with Russell, was largely shaped by Chennai Super Kings' auction plan.

Russell opened up about the emotional toll in a media release, "When you are going through social media, you keep seeing yourself photo-shopped in different jerseys of other teams. I felt weird to see myself in any colour other than purple & gold, and those thoughts kept going through my...