Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bowling consultant Eric Simons heaped praise on Dwayne Bravo, saying the team is extremely happy with the all-rounder’s performance against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) after CSK thrashed RCB by 6 wickets in an IPL 2021 contest on Friday (September 24).
Bravo returned with stunning figures of 3/24 including the crucial wickets of Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell to help Chennai Super Kings (CSK) restrict Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) under the 160-run mark in Sharjah on Friday.
Later, Ruturaj Gaikwad (38) and Ambati Rayudu (32) took CSK over the line, as Chennai chased down the target of 157 with six wickets in hand against RCB.
After CSK’s win over RCB to retain the top spot in the IPL 14 points table, Simons said Bravo always manages to find another gear in his game and that makes him a special cricketer, saying the West Indian’s bowling execution against RCB was one of the best you will ever see.
Simons said during a virtual post-match press conference; “Yes he has bowled particularly well in the last two matches, we always monitor the way he has been bowling in the Caribbean Premier League and wherever he is playing. He just seems to find another gear and that's what makes him a special character. But the execution against RCB was one of the best you will ever see, to bring back your team, we are extremely happy and he is too in terms of his performance.”
Meanwhile, Shardul Thakur also returned with two crucial wickets of Devdutt Padikkal (70) and AB de Villiers (12) on Friday and Simons said the pacer was very smart in the way he used his tactics and ability to read the wicket, the batters, and the game situation.
The bowling consultant said, “Shardul Thakur has tremendous self-belief. You can throw him the ball at any circumstance and he wants it too. He has incredible self-belief and that is what makes him a special cricketer. As a team, we very strongly look at the execution of our tactic rather than the outcome. Sometimes you bowl the perfect ball and it gets hit for four or six, but the execution was good. Shardul was clever about the way he went about his bowling and he was very smart in using his tactics.”
On Faf du Plessis who scored 31 against RCB, he said: “He has been very comfortable and play the knock he did against RCB. He’s an integral part of our process and it is good to see him healthy and playing well.”
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Simons also said the CSK batters have learnt a lesson from their horrendous IPL 2020 season in the UAE and now they planned to bat more aggressively in the ongoing IPL 2021.
He signed off by saying, “We spoke about what we did wrong here last year, often the bad performances are the best way to learn. The balance of our team is really good now, we have put together a very balanced team. We have learnt from our previous outing in the UAE.”
Noteworthy, CSK will next take on the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL 14 on Sunday, September 26, at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
(With ANI Inputs)
