Chennai Super Kings (CSK) stands head and shoulders above other Indian Premier League (IPL) teams. Joint-most titles, most finals, most playoffs, and highest win percentage. How does CSK do it? Dwayne Bravo has the answer. The West Indian all-rounder has been one of the IPL and CSK greats. If someone’s privy to do what magic Chennai does, it’s him.
Game awareness
Bravo, who’s the current Kolkata Knight Riders mentor, revealed how Dhoni’s awareness was the game-changer. Considered the greatest Indian and IPL captain, Bravo shared an incident from the 2018 season where the wicketkeeper scolded him. Despite being at the fag-end of his career, Bravo was still one of the best fielders going around. He threw his body on the line for the team.
But Dhoni didn’t want that. He explained to Bravo that his getting injured in the process of saving a couple of runs does the team more harm than good. It just shows the clarity Dhoni has for each player. He knows he released how important they are, even if they themselves don’t know it.
“When we came back into the IPL in 2018, I was 34. I dived for a ball at long-on. MS called me in, and after the over, he walked past me and said, ‘Don’t ever dive on my cricket field again.’ He was like, ‘Your four overs are more important than saving four runs.’ When he told me that, I was like, ‘Wow.’ After that, I started fielding in the circle. That is the kind of thing he does. He knows what you are good at and wants you for that reason. He does not want you to try to be anybody else,” Bravo said on the ‘Beard Before Wicket’ podcast.
Trust
The West Indian went on to share his first experience of bowling for CSK. At that point, Bravo had been playing international cricket for 7 years already. He knew his game. Unlike other captains who want to be in charge, Dhoni realised that he didn’t have to spoon-feed Bravo and showed complete faith in his ability.
“In my very first CSK game in 2011, he asked me about my field. I told him what I wanted, and after that moment, he never told me anything about field placement again. I felt he trusted me completely. From then on, we called each other brother from a different mother. He just allowed me to be me,” he added.
Non-judgement
Bravo also credited the positive environment that Dhoni and long-time CSK head coach Stephen Fleming created. The duo was pragmatic. He wouldn’t jump the gun after one good or bad game. There was no lashing out or songs of praise. And that was the testament to their success. In Bravo’s CSK career, only three times did the franchise not reach the IPL final. That just paints the picture.
“They are not judgemental. Their moods do not change whether you perform or not. They are very consistent with how they treat players. That is the uniqueness of that franchise,” Bravo concluded.
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