Aakash Chopra picks Andre Russell as the better T20 all-rounder than Ben Stokes

Aakash Chopra, the former Indian cricketer, conducted a Question and Answer session on Twitter. The veteran is currently among the most popular analysts and it wasn’t a surprise that he was bombarded with questions from his fans. Recently, a fan asked to pick him the better all-round cricketer between West Indies’ Andre Russell and England’s Ben Stokes.

Both Russell and Stokes can be devastating on their day and can rip any opposition apart. Stokes once became the highest paid player in the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL). Russell has been a brute force for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the same tournament as well. The choice for Chopra wasn’t expected to be an easy one by any stretch of the imagination.

One of the fans took to Twitter and wrote, “#AakashVani Is Andre Russell a better all-rounder in T20s than Ben Stokes??”. Replying to the user, Chopra took the name of Russell. As per him, even as Stokes and Russell’s bowling prowess are similar, the latter leaves behind the Englishman in batting. He concluded by saying, “Andre andar, gend bahar (Andre in, ball out),”

Q: #AakashVani With Saliva ban for shining the ball, how this will impact cricket in post Covid Era?
– @Thatcricketguy2

A: pic.twitter.com/RQAqQ585P4

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 1, 2020

Andre Russell dominating the IPL

Russell became a part of the Men in Gold and Purple since the 2014 edition of the T20 tournament. Back then, he wasn’t much of a known name. However, as his career passed the test of times, he kept growing in stature. Last year, he took the Knights to victories single-handedly in some of the games. When the ball used to be in  his arc, the Jamaican used to throw the kitchen sink.

Batting lower down the order, he threatened to take the game from the oppositions within a blink of an eye. Earlier this year, he guided the Rajshahi Royals to their maiden title in the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). With both bat and ball, Dre-Russ showed his class and brutality.

Recently, he became the Player of the Series in the two-match T20I series against Sri Lanka where he smashed as many as 10 sixes. He also has a couple of T20 tons, while playing for the Jamaica Tallawahs in the CPL against Trinbago Knight Riders. In the format, he plays at a strike-rate of 171.29.