Bravo calls for 'smarts of the game' as KKR fight batting slump

Six 200-plus totals were made in the first five matches of IPL 2025. Four of them exceeded 230, with a highest of 286. But scoring rates have come down since, with no 200-plus scores in the next eight matches. Dwayne Bravo, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) mentor and the IPL's highest wicket-taker among seamers, said this was a result of batters putting less value on their wickets and bowlers getting smarter.

"The batsmen are not having that value on the wicket anymore," Bravo said on the eve of KKR's home game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). "They're a bit reckless because they play on those flat pitches. Teams are batting longer with the Impact Player, so the value for batsmanship is no longer there. The Impact Player is there, a lot of teams have batted longer, so the value for batsmanship is no longer there.

"So that's why you see the scores are now starting to drop a bit. Bowlers are getting smarter and they're trying to use their strengths more."

Bravo's side KKR, the defending champions, are among the teams who promised to raise run rates this season, but they've only made totals of 174 and 116 on the two occasions when they've batted first, with their middle order not yet finding form. Their opponents SRH have also promised breakneck run-rates but have lost steam since posting 286, one run short of their own IPL record total, on the first weekend of the season. Bravo said batting was about more than just hitting.

"Yes, we are an aggressive batting line-up but that's not cricket," he said. "My message to the batsmen especially is that the basics of the game are still required. The smarts of the game are still required. These guys just need to apply themselves a bit more and I think they're getting to understand that.

"The games we lose, we have those learnings, so that when we speak cricket, they get to understand that the evidence is there on why we are failing as a batting group. As coaches, it is about telling them that cricketing shots are allowed in T20s as well."

KKR's upper and lower middle order (Nos. 4 to 8) has averaged 17.22 so far this season while at 113.63, with Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh and Ramandeep Singh failing to reproduce their performances from the last few seasons. But Bravo maintained that the tournament was still in its early days.

"Batting is not our main concern," Bravo said. "We are not the only team after three matches in this position. But we are working on being smarter. Once we get that right, we'll be fine. We bat fairly deep and it's an area we are letting ourselves down [in], but these guys are all quality players.

"In a tournament where there are 14 games, you don't judge a player who has had success over the years after just two games. You're judging them based on two games, because one game none of them batted.

"In the IPL you don't expect any player to be consistent with 14 games. It's important to keep encouraging them, remind them of how great they are. They already have success in IPL with KKR.

"And Rinku will win two games by himself, Russell will win two by himself. Ramandeep will contribute, Venky will come into his own, and will also win two games by himself. There are so many match-winners there."

While KKR head coach Chandrakant Pandit has called for teams to be allowed a greater say in the preparation of pitches on their home grounds, Bravo didn't comment on the surfaces at Eden Gardens. Instead, he felt home advantage also came from players feeding off the energy of the crowds.

"For me, you turn up, you play," he said. "The team that plays the best will win - whether it's slow, it's turning, or not turning. For me, my language to the players will always be to make the necessary adjustments for the conditions.

"And what helps us with home advantage is the fans. I think that is more important than how the pitch plays. I will not really comment much about pitches. Once the fans are there into the game and cheering us on, that makes a difference."