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Charismatic West Indian Dwayne Bravo, who replaced Gautam Gambhir as mentor at Kolkata Knight Riders, on Thursday said he will mix some elements from the former KKR strategist’s blueprint with his own distinct style for a successful campaign in the upcoming IPL. With Gambhir playing a key role behind the scenes, KKR won their third IPL title last season. The reigning champions have turned to Bravo ahead of the IPL 2025 season, following the departure of Gambhir who is now the head coach of the Indian team. “Unfortunately, we lost some players. But I think GG had his style, I have my style. We’re both successful in our own ways,” Bravo said, making it clear that while he respects Gambhir’s legacy, he will bring his own methods to the role.
The former West Indies skipper though admitted to reaching out to Gambhir for insights.
“Definitely, I messaged him a few times and stuff. But again, I will be leaning a lot on these guys because they had a successful formula. And it’s important that we follow that formula,” he said during KKR’s first media interaction ahead of the upcoming season.
Bravo emphasised the need to study and adopt elements of last season’s success and it was necessary to keep the core of the side intact.
“I think it’s going to be disrespectful of me not to try and find out some of the good things he did last season. But also, the core of the team is here.
“And that’s our responsibility, coach, myself, Venky sir to go back into the auction and try our best to get back. It was our duty to go into the auction and try to get back as much as the same squad of players from the championship-winning team. And we were able to get that,” added the 41-year-old.
Having released Venkatesh Iyer earlier, KKR went all out in the auction for the explosive batter and bought him back for Rs 23.75 crore, making him the third most expensive buy, after Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer.
Given his long-standing association with Chennai Super Kings, Bravo’s appointment came as a surprise. But the Trinidadian is excited about working with Shah Rukh Khan and hailed KKR as one of the best franchises in the league.
“I think it is good to have a boss like Shah Rukh who is definitely really invested in the game. My first thing started off with the Trinbago Knight Riders when he first bought the team.
“I was the happiest person on the planet to know that someone like him showed that interest to buy a team in the Caribbean. But not only in the Caribbean, but my hometown. And I was able to help build Trinbago Knight Riders, one of, to this day, the most successful franchises in CPL history.
“That energy and that vibe, I am going to try to bring that here as well. It is already a successful team. Behind MI and CSK, we have the third most trophies in the cabinet and we look to build on that.” KKR will kick off IPL 2025 by taking on Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Eden Gardens on March 22.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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