In a game that’s basically all about the bat and the ball, there was one cricketer at the international level who played with the minds of the opposing players, a wicketkeeper-batter who was practically unbeatable – and if you’re going to try to guess which one we’re talking about, well, good luck – you’ve got zero chance of being right. MS Dhoni and his incredible exploits behind the wickets are of course legendary in the cricketing world. But a guy who knew him pretty well, his former Chennai Super Kings teammate Dwayne Bravo, shared a story in a recent podcast.
Dwayne Bravo is a 42 year old fella, a former West Indies all-rounder with a lot of cricketing miles on his clock, and he dropped by the Beard Before Wicket podcast to spill the beans about his own career. He covered a lot of ground, but one of the really interesting bits he talked about were the tough times he had with his team when they were on the outs with the cricket board. Apart from all that, Dwayne Bravo also shared a story that’s going to stick with him for the rest of his life – about MS Dhoni.
Its an open secret that the Chennai Super Kings team were built around the idea of giving the opposition a lot to think about, with a whole bunch of all-rounders in their lineup. And among those all-rounders, Dwayne Bravo was pretty much the rock that anchored the whole show, thanks to his bowling skills which gave the CSK team a massive edge.
When the CSK team came back from their banning in 2018, Bravo told a story about when he was out in the field at long-on and dived for a ball that was heading for the ropes. What happens next is something that even now leaves Dwayne Bravo shaking his head in amazement – as he describes it himself.
“When we came back from the ban in 2018 I dived for a ball at long on. Dhoni pulled me in & after the over ,as I walked past the dugout, he said to me – dont ever dive on my field again . four of your overs are worth more than stopping four runs. When he said that I just about fell over and thought to myself ‘wow’, said Dwayne Bravo in that podcast interview
Dwayne Bravo On MS Dhoni the Captain
Like loads of other cricketers, Bravo reckons MS Dhoni was a one-off as captains go. The former CSK skipper had a remarkable way of trusting the players and letting them get on with it. He’d back a guy to the hilt, and that gave you the confidence to go out there and do your stuff. Bravo himself says a single instruction like “not to dive” completely flipped his approach to the game.
“He knows exactly what you’re good at and that’s what he wants you to do, not try to be something you’re not, that’s Dhoni for you”, Bravo explains.
The 2011 ODI World Cup winner used to use Bravo to great effect, bringing him in at just the right moment. Especially when the opposition were hammering the runs, Dhoni’d call him on – and often at Chepauk too when it came to the final overs. That’s because Bravo was one of the few who could mix it up with a slower delivery and a few tweaks to keep the opposition guessing.
Bravo was a powerhouse in the shortest form, especially in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He played 161 games and took 183 wickets at an economy of 8.38, with a couple of four-wicket hauls on his card. And let’s not forget the runs – he scored 1,560 of those too, with five half-centuries, not bad considering the position he batted at.