Russell kills it with his fashion sense too: Karthik

Kolkata, April 11 (IANS) Andre Russell is not only making headlines for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on the field with his explosive displays, off the field too the West Indies all-rounder is killing it with his style statement, skipper Dinesh Karthik revealed on Thursday.

"Among the foreigners, Russell.. He kills it, so he's got a good fashion sense as well," Karthik said at a promotional event here.

Russell has been a picture of consistency for KKR, plundering 257 runs from just 121 balls with a stunning ball striking rate of 212.39 in this season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Karthik was also asked about the Indian players with the best dressing sense in the team.

"Kuldeep (Yadav) dresses really hard, Shubman (Gill) is somebody who is very stylish, Nitish Rana comes to my mind... These are all very fashionable guys."

Having come close to winning the title last year, Karthik in his second season as Kolkata Knight Riders skipper, said he is aiming to go for the jugular and win the Indian Premier League (IPL) crown this time.

KKR lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 14 runs in Qualifier 2 last year to miss out on a final berth at the Eden Gardens here.

The two-time IPL champions have made the playoffs thrice in a row since 2015 and Karthik fancies this can be their year.

"I would like to believe this is KKR's year. The aim is to help the team win the title," Karthik said at a promotional event.

Karthik took over from Gautam Gambhir last year and had said that he has it in him to steer the side to at least the playoffs.

Asked about which team is the favourite this time, Karthik said: "It's difficult to say which team is the favourite since all 8 teams are on the same level. Hard to say which team is the big rival.. All teams are equally balanced and whoever plays better on the given day will be the winner."

After six games, KKR are second on the points table with eight points.