Andre Russell out of 2019 World Cup with knee injury

Flamboyant West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell has been forced out of World Cup due to a lingering knee injury that seemed to cause him a lot of difficulty in his team's match against Bangladesh. Sunil Ambris, a batsman who opened the innings for his team in the tri-series in Ireland before the World Cup has been chosen as the replacement.

Russell had been struggling with this injury even before the World Cup but had hoped that he would be able to manage it in the course of this event. Despite his bad knee, he managed to bowl some really good spells in this event and generate speeds of 140+ per hour. Commentators attributed this to his upper body strength which also contributes to his ability of hitting really big sixes.

Despite enjoying a great run of form in the IPL, the all-rounder didn't make much of a mark with the bat in the ongoing World Cup. It was his bowling that seemed to be the stronger suit as his ability to generate good pace and bounce caused problems to many batsmen. Still, the lack of fitness meant he was often off the pitch.

Things looked really bad in West Indies' game against Bangladesh where Russell was walking very gingerly and was having great difficulty in fielding. He was dismissed for a second ball duck and when it came to bowling, though he got the first breakthrough, couldn't do much else. After just bowling six overs, he was taken out of the attack and looked in great pain.

Not surprisingly, the Jamaican all-rounder was left out of the team for the team's match New Zealand. Now West Indies have brought back Sunil Ambris, a batsman who hasn't been able to establish his place in the team. However, he was able to score a hundred in the tri-series that was played in Ireland between the hosts, West Indies and Bangladesh, as an opener. However, the all-round abilities of Russell are not easy to replace.