‘Russell is not the only one who is struggling at the moment’ – Dwayne Bravo highlights problems with KKR following GT loss

Kolkata Knight Riders, the defending champions, have been having a hard time in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 campaign. With just three wins out of their eight games, the latest of which came against Gujarat Titans in Match 39, the Knight Riders definitely need a dramatic comeback to winning ways in order to push themselves through to the playoffs for the title defence.

The main concern for KKR has been their batting. Quinton de Kock started well, but lost the touch in the following games. He was replaced by Rahmanullah Gurbaz for the GT tie, who, too, could not impress at all. Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi have looked in great nick, however, the firepower in the middle-order – Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, and Andre Russell haven’t really shown their potential yet, and the bowling coach Dwayne Bravo feels that the unit seems to have lost confidence.

“IPL is a tough tournament. And when you don’t start well, batsmen go into a period where they lose confidence. And that’s what’s happening at the moment. We just have to keep backing them, and hopefully they come good,” Bravo said at the post-match press conference, as quoted by Cricbuzz.

“Russell is an experienced player. He’s a successful player. Just a couple of games, the leg spinners have got him out. But I don’t think we actually had the team batting properly. So that is the reality. Russell is not the only one who is struggling at the moment. But as a group, we have to make sure that the players keep putting in their work and practise, keep preparing well, try to keep them mentally focused,” he said while backing the former Caribbean teammate.

Nothing wrong with the Eden pitch, adds Bravo

Playing at the Eden Gardens in the home city, the Kolkata-based franchise lost the game by a huge 39-run margin against the Shubman Gill-led side. There have already been a lot of controversies around the debates between KKR dug-out and the pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee at the venue, however, the Trinidadian refrained from blaming the Eden deck. He rather said that both the teams play on the same wicket, and the one that plays better, wins.

“Nothing is wrong with the wicket. I wouldn’t come here to talk about the wicket. I think both teams play on the wicket and, you know, we didn’t play a good game of cricket. So definitely if we don’t play in the three facets of the game, good, and the other team play better, more likely they will win. So I’m not having anything, nothing is wrong with the wicket. So I just felt that they play better than us. They win key moments and their batsmen bat in the, the guys who bat in the first three, they both score half centuries. So I think that was the difference,” the 41-year-old concluded.

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