West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell has “no regrets” about being a popular T20 freelancer. He believes that Test cricket just wasn’t meant to be part of his career. “Honestly? No. I believe in Test cricket, but I’m a professional. It wasn’t part of my path. I have no regrets because I didn’t turn my back on it,” Russell told The Guardian ahead of the West Indies’ T20I series against England.
Russell has played 140 times for the West Indies in all formats but has only appeared in one Test match back in 2010. In the past fifteen years, he has played 551 T20 matches for different teams all around the world.
Recently, Virat Kohli said that an IPL win with RCB is a “five levels below Test cricket,” but Russell thinks that perspective varies depending on where you’re from. “If you’re from India, Australia, or England, where they take care of their Test players, it’s a whole different ball game than coming from the West Indies,” he explained. “Those countries provide nice contracts for their Test players and they get to play on big stages, so of course, they want in. For us West Indians? You could play 50 or 100 Tests, but after you retire, there’s not much to show for it.”
Russell stressed that he still respects Test cricket, but feels he was labeled as a white-ball player. “I was basically pushed out of the Test setup. They saw me more as a white-ball player, and that was that.”