Bravo urges KKR to focus on ‘basics’

Kolkata, April 2: T20 cricket largely translates into explosive batting, but Kolkata Knight Riders mentor Dwayne Bravo reminded his batters on Wednesday that staying aggressive all the time is “not cricket” if the basics are ignored.
Their attacking approach has already led to two losses in three games in the IPL and clearly Bravo is not impressed with the approach.
The defending champions’ highest score this season has been 174/8 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru while they were shot out for just 116 by Mumbai Indians.
As they return home after two away fixtures, KKR will be desperate to revive their campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad — a team that has twice breached the 280-run mark in two seasons.Bravo emphasised on the importance of sticking to the “basics”.“As far as our batting group, yes, we are an aggressive batting line-up, but that’s not cricket,” Bravo said during the pre-match media interaction at Eden Gardens.“What my message to my team and especially to the batsmen is that the basics of the game are still required. The smarts of the game are still required.” “These guys need to apply themselves a bit more. So the games that we lose, it’s all learning. When you speak cricket, they get to understand the evidence of why we are failing as a batting group. Now, as coaches, it’s important for us to try to break down the game, simplify it a bit, and trust that cricketing shots are also allowed in T20.” With two losses in three games, Bravo pointed out that six teams have identical win-loss records, suggesting there is no reason to panic.“It’s still early days in the tournament. We’re not the only team that has two losses and one win. But it’s important for us to bounce back, and that is our main focus right now.” (PTI)