Andre Russell, West Indies cricket star, wants Deepika, Priyanka in debut album

West Indies cricketer Andre Russell, who played for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) last year, is busy making his name in another field: music. The Caribbean star all-rounder is serving a year-long ban for violating an anti-doping code. (IPL FULL COVERAGE)

The 28-year-old Jamaican said, “It is true that I will be debuting as a singer this year. Since I’m not playing cricket currently, I thought it would make sense to utilise my time and resources more constructively. And that’s when I came up with the idea of putting together a single.”

“Cricket has always been my first love, but I’m quite fond of singing and dancing, too, since we Jamaicans love music and it runs in our blood,” said Andre Russell.

“I’ll also shoot the video of my next single. I’ve been taking lessons from (West Indies teammate Dwayne) Bravo in music.” Bravo is part of the Gujarat Lions squad in IPL 2017.

The very colourful Andre Russell follows in the footsteps of Bravo, who launched his career last year with the hit single Champion.

Russell has been signed by the same record label that’s handling Bravo.

“They’re based in Los Angeles, and they are the same (label) who were also the producers for (Justin) Bieber’s recent song, Sorry. In fact, I recorded in the same studio and mic (with which) Bieber recorded,” said Russell.

Andre Russell also wants to cast Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra or Deepika Padukone in the video.

“I will be visiting India in April to see if I can rope in a Bollywood actress to feature in the video, apart from meeting all my cricketer friends. I’d love to feature Deepika Padukone or Priyanka Chopra in it,” he said.