Bravo backs Russell, admits KKR batters have 'lost confidence'

Dwayne Bravo, the Mentor of Kolkata Knight Riders, admitted that the batters failed to assess the conditions well and apply themselves better following the loss against Gujarat Titans at the Eden Gardens on Monday. Chasing 199 for victory, KKR were restricted to 159 for 8.

"I think the bowlers, first of all, did a fantastic job restricting them under 200," Bravo admitted following the loss. "Shubhman Gill and Sai batted very well, but credit to our bowling group, they really brought it back and gave us a chance at the halfway stage. I think we were the happier team.

"Unfortunately, we didn't get the start we wanted in the powerplay. And then, they slowed us down through the middle and obviously we faulted in the end."

Kolkata Knight Riders struggled to find momentum in the powerplay, where they scored only 45 runs and lost both their openers. Gujarat Titans too had a similar score on the board at that stage of their innings, but with both their openers still in the middle. However, unlike Titans, who managed to pick up their scoring rate as the innings went along, KKR were kept on a leash. In the four overs after the powerplay, Ajnkya Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer managed to score only 23 runs.

While Rahane hit a few boundaries, Iyer continued to struggle, and mid-way through the 13th over, both the batters were dismissed in quick succession, leaving KKR tottering at 91 for 4.

Even as the hosts had amle firepower in the death, with Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Moeen Ali and Impact Substitute Angkrish Raghuvanshi to follow, the task was too steep. For brief while, Russell's flurry of sixes offered hopes, but he was soon controlled by R Sai Kishore and Prasidh Krishna. And yet again, he fell to Rashid Khan.

Russell's 15-ball 21 on the night happens to be his highest score this season, a year in which his destructive powers haven't been of much use for KKR, and yet again, was dismissed by a legspinner. However, Bravo continued to back the West Indian and dimssed concerns of his game against legspin.

"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.

"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"

He insisted that if the top order bats well, it will allow the finishers to play their role better. Bravo admitted that following a string of underwhelming performances, the KKR batters are going through a period where they are low on confidence.

"Not every team has leg spinners. And then today, obviously, Rashid Khan, one of the quality players. But, you know, when Russell walks into bat every time, the run rate is at 14-15. So the work needs to be done on top so that we give him a chance to finish off games like he accustomed to doing over the years for KKR. So, yeah, he has leg spinners getting him out a few times. But I don't think that is a big concern. I just figured that, we need to bat better to allow our finishers to finish cricket games."

For all the requests of wanting tracks friendly for spinners in Kolkata, yet again the team batting first posted a total in excess of 190. However, Bravo didn't want to entertain the issue of pitch as the reason for the loss.

"Nothing is wrong with the wicket," he said. "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, you know, they both score half centuries. So I think that was the difference."