Chennai Super Kings has been a dominant side in the IPL over the years and all-rounder Dwayne Bravo feels the reason for its success is that the team has stuck to a core set of players without much chopping and changing.
Two-time champion CSK, which lost its previous game to Delhi Daredevils, has won eight of its 13 matches to stay atop the points table so far. Bravo said the team has always been ready for challenges.
“The most important thing is that we don’t chop and change the team. The management is doing a very good job, whether it’s in the auctions or selecting a playing XI. They try and stick to a core of players. Therefore the camaraderie and the team unity is there and that’s most important,” said Bravo here on Wednesday.
“If you are going to be a good team, you got to be a champion side. You got to beat whichever side you are up against. We definitely want to finish in the top two but let’s see what happens in the play-offs. Top-four is very important for us,” he added.
Crediting IPL for shaping the careers of many international Indian player, Bravo insists that the tournament is most certainly the route to international success.
“IPL is helping every cricketer, not only West Indies players. Even the Indian players are getting benefitted. It’s because of IPL that Indian players are becoming the players they are today. Look at a Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, they have all grown with the success of IPL.
“They (players) face the likes of Mitchell Johnson and Dale Steyn and many such international fast bowlers. Because these players play them in IPL so much that it gives them the confidence of playing at the international level and become better players, he said.
Like any other CSK player, Bravo was all praise for his skipper and said that Mahendra Singh Dhoni has the knack of bringing the best out of the players. “He (Dhoni) is very good. What you see on TV is what he is like. Off the field as well he is just like that. In the dressing room he is very relaxed and calm. Doesn’t say much, allows players to express themselves and play their natural game. That’s the quality of a leader, to command a team and allow you to be yourself.”
Compliment him about his fielding and the superb catches that he has taken this season, and the all-rounder credited it to Jonty Rhodes.
