IPL 2021 | Bravo has turned up fit and he is executing very well, states MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni calles Dwayne Bravo a brother and praised his bowling against RCB
|Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni has said that Dwayne Bravo has turned up fit for the second leg of IPL 2021 and is executing his bowling plans very well. Dhoni's comments came after CSK won the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday as Bravo took three wickets for 24 runs.
RCB skipper Virat Kohli lost the toss and was asked to bat first on a tricky wicket of Sharjah. They got off to a great start as openers Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal accumulated 111 runs for the first wicket. RCB was looking set to post around 170-180 runs on the board but Dwayne Bravo bowled a brilliant spell of 3 /24 in four overs to restrict RCB for 156/6. Dhoni added that he calls Bravo a brother and they fight about whether Bravo should bowl slower balls.Â
“He has turned up fit, that is a very good thing. And he is executing very well. I call him my brother. We always have the fight every year as to whether he needs to bowl so many slower balls or not.
"I said 'you do it to bluff the batsmen but now everyone knows Bravo is known for the slower deliveries. So why not bowl 6 different deliveries whether it's yorker or length. Let them be surprised by saying 'oh he didn't bowl the slower one'. That's what it's all about bluffing. 'You want to confuse the batsman'. That's another way,” Dhoni said during the post-match presentation.
The former India captain added that Bravo is an ace in the T20 format as he carries the experience of playing different leagues around the globe.Â
“He is an ace when it comes to this format. He has played all over the world, in different conditions, whenever the team needs him, he has taken up responsibility and done well for us,” he added.
The 40-year-old revealed that he thought about bringing Moeen Ali into the attack but changed his mind because of the dew factor and instead handed the ball off to Bravo for a much needed breakthrough.
“I had told Moeen before drinks that he would be bowling soon, but then I decided Bravo should bowl. The more you delay Bravo, the more difficult it is since he will end up bowling four straight overs in these difficult conditions.Â
“We were worried about the dew, so whenever there’s chances of dew, we want to bat second. They got off to a good start but after ninth over wicket slowed down. You still had to bowl tight, and Jadeja's spell was important with Padikkal batting from one end. After that Bravo, Josh, Shardul, Deepak were brilliant. It’s always on the back of your mind on which bowler can be effective over here,” the 40-year-old revealed.
RCB set a meagre target of 157 runs to chase for CSK. In reply, Dhoni & Co. won the game with 11 balls to spare to move to the first position on the points table. They will play next against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday in Abu Dhabi.Â
