Former West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, who is now the mentor of reigning champions Kolkata Knight Riders, defended the team’s strategy of “going all out” to keep Venkatesh Iyer’s “core” of the IPL championship-winning side intact. The acquisition of Venkatesh, seen as a potential captaincy candidate for KKR, has led to some criticism as to why he was not retained if leadership was part of the team think tank’s plans for him. “Getting Venky (Venkatesh Iyer) was one of our key priorities. As you can see, we have put in all our efforts for him,” said Bravo, a four-time IPL winner with Chennai Super Kings.
“It’s great to have 90 per cent of the players from the winning team in our team. That in itself is a positive sign.
“It’s important to keep the core because if you have to build it from scratch, it gets complicated to create combinations and things like that.” Bravo, who will be in charge of all franchises under the Knight Riders label in the T20 league, added: “The planning started when I was in Trinidad. We had a proper plan of the players we wanted to target.”
The 29-year-old Madhya Pradesh all-rounder, who represented India in nine T20Is and two ODIs, emerged as the third most expensive player in the two-day IPL mega auction that concluded here on Monday with a whopping Rs 23.75 crore.
Only Rishabh Pant (Lucknow, Rs 27 crore) and Shreyas Iyer (Punjab, Rs 26.75 crore) are ahead of Venkatesh in the list of most expensive players, with Venkatesh surpassing experienced India batsman KL Rahul, former Lucknow Super Giants captain. It was acquired by Delhi Capitals for Rs 14 crore.
Bravo is also excited that KKR has roped in fierce pacer Umran Malik.
“The speed at which he works, I always respect him. His work ethic, his energy, everything. I’m glad we were able to get a hold of him.” KKR CEO and MD Venky Mysore added: “The way the retention rules are set up, the RTM rules, the salary cap, the key players and the two-day auctions – it’s definitely been more challenging. It’s been quite nerve-wracking. “The think tank’s unanimous view is that we can maintain the structure we’ve had. It was. Improvements and upgrades have also been made in certain areas. I hope it continues to work well.” Mysore also highlighted the value Rovman Powell would bring to the Kolkata Knight Riders set-up, highlighting his extensive experience and leadership qualities.
“Lovman Powell, over the years we have seen what he has done in the CPL, other leagues and of course the IPL as well. He is very experienced and leading the West Indies. The leadership experience, captaincy and what he has done, all this makes him It really makes it special, and I’m so happy to have him by my side.
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