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Dwayne Bravo, KKR’s new mentor, aims to instill a ‘champion mentality’ in IPL 2025, succeeding Gautam Gambhir. Bravo emphasizes passion and camaraderie, building on last year’s title win.
The KKR Thinktank (From left) Chandrakant Pandit, Dwayne Bravo and Ajinkya Rahane. (Credit: IG/kkriders)
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)‘s mentor Dwayne Bravo has promised to bring in a ‘champion mentality’ to the franchise in IPL 2025, his first season in the job since replacing the highly-popular Gautam Gambhir. He said the key to success for KKR would be ‘passion’ and that he’d like to build on last year’s title win by helping the already-accomplished players enjoy each other’s company.
Bravo has big shoes to fill, for Gambhir led KKR to two IPL titles as captain and then seemed to have used his soft skills to push them past the finish line for the third time last year. However, the West Indian all-rounder brings with him a large CV of accomplishments as a player and mentor/coach with multiple franchises around the world, including some under the Knight Riders brand, and international sides as well.
“I’d like to bring in the champion mentality. I believe in winning,” Bravo, who won three IPL titles with Chennai Super Kings, said at the ‘Knights Unplugged 2.0’ event, as quoted by PTI. “My records speak for themselves, but at the end of the day, it’s about the next generation of cricketers and helping them become champions in their own way… The key to success is passion for the game. In this squad, we have 9-10 players from the championship-winning team — that’s more than 80 percent. They already know how to win championships. That should be our aim. Enjoy each other’s success and company,”
“KKR is a team hugely respected worldwide. When I was playing, a couple of guys used to be a nightmare to face. Happy to be part of this setup now. Lucky to have captained some of them in Trinidad & Tobago. The decision to join was an easy one. I want to continue the legacy and ensure KKR remains a household name around the world,” he added.
Though KKR’s core is almost the same as last season, they have let go of their skipper Shreyas Iyer and replaced him with more experienced but less popular Ajinkya Rahane.
Helping Bravo navigate the ways would be the team head coach Chandrakant Pandit. There have been some concerns about the duo’s contrasting styles. While Pandit is a hard taskmaster, Bravo is more laidback.
However, Pandit allayed those fears at the event as well.
“He’s a legend. I’ve watched him on TV for years. He brings immense value to the team—not just in terms of tactics, but also in terms of creating a winning culture. There’s a lot to learn from him, and I’m looking forward to spending time with him,” Pandit said at the event.
KKR will begin their campaign against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Eden Gardens on March 22.