One could only guess how Chennai Super Kings’ tournament would have turned out had it lost the first match against Mumbai Indians. Fortunately, Dwayne Bravo bailed out his side twice in the match, first with the ball, with figures of none for 25 before his blitzkrieg knock of 68 off just 30 balls.
Without Bravo, CSK’s death bowling resources look thin and it is a testament to his skills that the West Indian has been able to deliver for his captain taking the responsibility, often single-handedly.
Read: At ‘home’, CSK hopes to maintain winning run
Beyond his all-round ability, CSK bowling consultant Eric Simmons on Friday gave an insight into the ways Bravo helps out the team in various situations of the game.
“He is an incredibly experienced cricketer. We were dead and buried against Mumbai last time we played them and he played one of the great T20 innings I’ve ever seen. I didn’t think we are going to win it and even MS (Dhoni) spoke about damage limitation,” said Simmons
The former India bowling coach went on to add how Bravo controls the game in the middle and death overs of a T20 innings apart from his mentorship. “His ability to control in those middle overs when we need some control, bowl to his field is for me is wonderful to watch.
“The number of balls he bowls that go down the ground for one or to the square for one, he exactly knows what is going to happen which is hugely important.”
“A component, which you don’t witness, is the amount of mentorship he does for our young bowlers. He does a lot of talking, a lot of advising. Sometimes in cricket, a good option is just (conceding) a one. It is not necessarily (to bowl) a perfect dot ball and he is very good at advising youngsters at where to bowl and make sure they bowl to their field. He plays all three roles for our team as far as I’m concerned.”
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