Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) all-rounder and current bowling coach Dwayne Bravo opined on the captain MS Dhoni’s leadership and lauded his fitness and new hairstyle ahead of the 2024 IPL season. However, Bravo played under Dhoni for CSK from 2011 to 2015 and again from 2018 to 2022 as well and played a vital cog in the franchise winning three of its five titles in 2011, 2018, and 2021 as well. However, CSK also won the fifth time last season with Dhoni at the helm and Bravo as bowling coach, defeating the Gujarat Titans (GT) in a thrilling last-ball finish in the final as well.
Speaking about MS Dhoni at the inauguration ceremony of Avira Diamonds’ store in Chennai, Bravo told reporters as per The New Indian
Express: “His leadership speaks for himself, and you know we enjoy every moment playing under his leadership. He is always looking fit, I like his new hairstyle, it’s cool.”
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“Our chances are very good. But at the same time, we can’t go into the tournament thinking we are favorites, and that we are going to win. We’ve to prepare well as a team, which we always do. We also have really good players. Captain Cool (MS Dhoni) is there, so we have a very good chance of defending our trophy, but it is not going to be easy,” further added Bravo.
Meanwhile, since returning to the IPL after a two-year hiatus in 2018, CSK has won three titles in the past six editions as well, including two of the last three in 2021 and 2023. And, Dwayne Bravo praised CSK’s depth in the bowling department with the additions of Shardul Thakur and Mustafizur Rahman as well as the others — Tushar Deshpande, Ravindra Jadeja, and Matheesha Pathirana who all were in the top ten leading wicket-takers chart last season as well.
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“We have our baby Lasith Malinga in Pathirana. Mukesh is back and so is Deepak (Chahar). Also, it’s good to have Shardul back in the team. And Fizz (Mustafizur) is also there. So, this squad is very good. We have a lot of depth. These guys add to what we had last year, and we have a better attack now. In the auction, I didn’t have any input. But now my job starts, and I take part in the specific death bowling role because that’s my speciality. In T20s, thats a very important segment of the game and it requires a lot of skill, bravery and planning. So, you have to implement it in practice and get these guys to believe in a philosophy and work towards it,” concluded Dwayne Bravo.
