One can only guess how Chennai Super Kings’ tournament would have panned out had it lost the first match against Mumbai Indians.
Fortunately, Dwayne Bravo bailed his side out 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 up the responsibility, often single-handedly.
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Beyond his all-round ability, CSK bowling consultant Eric Simmons on Friday gave an insight into the ways Bravo helps the team in various situations.
“He is an incredibly experienced cricketer. We were dead and buried against Mumbai last time we played them and he played one of the greatest T20 innings I’ve ever seen. I didn’t think we were going to win it and even MS (Dhoni) spoke about damage limitation,” said Simmons.
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He 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 in those middle overs when we need some control, bowling to his field 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.
“A component, that you don’t witness, is the mentoring he does for our young bowlers. He does a lot of talking, a lot of advising.
“It is not necessarily a perfect dot ball and he is very good at advising youngsters on where to bowl and make sure they bowl to their field. He plays three roles for our team.”