“We missed Dwayne Bravo during the IPL”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has announced that “it is good to have” West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo back.

Bravo only played one game in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) before he returned home with a shoulder injury.

“We missed Dwayne Bravo during the IPL. He got injured,” Dhoni said. “That really affected the strength, combination and stability of the side. It is good to have him (Bravo) back.”

Dhoni also noted that the squad have not been given enough time to prepare for their Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) clash against the Kolkata Knight Riders, who won this year’s IPL.

“We don’t get 10 days before the start of the tournament,” he said. “It is usually pretty fast. Especially the fact, most of the Indian cricketers, they are part of the ODI squad and they are coming from England, which means [they] will be arriving here late.

“In my case, I just came here (Hyderabad) today. So, you don’t get the same amount of time with the team. As I said, it has its own challenge. Still it is good. We get enough time to get together. The two months of IPL, the time, we spend that really helps us. It becomes like a refresher course, where you get together and start getting your acts together.”

While the IPL is still a major blockbuster amongst the cricketing community, the CLT20 hasn’t been met with the same kind of enthusiasm.

However, Dhoni defended the tournament, saying: “The idea of Champions League T20 is brilliant. But also, it becomes difficult to indulge the Indian crowds at the same level if you compare to IPL. Because, if two teams from abroad are playing, you won’t get the same kind of crowd, may be when two Indian teams are playing, the interest of crowd grows. This is a challenge.”