Andre Russell has a favourite six. One that he thinks of when his head hits the pillow at night. Out of all the cloud-busting strikes that have flown from his blade in the last 15 years, all the boundary-clearing smites across the globe, delivered with dead-eyed assassin temperament under his trademark bleached mohawk. One shot stands out. One six to rule them all.
“The one off Hardik Pandya at the Wankhede in the 2016 World Cup,” he says. “That one was just massive. Perfect swing. Right out of the middle.” There’s a moment of silence before Russell blows out his cheeks at the memory. “That one was crazy.” You can look it up and decide for yourself, watch the umpire Richard Kettleborough’s chuckle of astonishment as the ball soars into the top tier of Mumbai’s famous stadium and he signals the obvious. Yeah, that’s a six all right.
