IPL 2025: Kolkata gets Gautam Gambhir's replacement, this veteran becomes mentor
KKR has included Bravo in its team. Bravo will replace Gautam Gambhir in the KKR team. Under the guidance of Gambhir, KKR won the IPL 2024 title. KKR announced this on Friday.
Former West Indies captain and experienced all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has been appointed as the new mentor by the Kolkata Knight Riders team ahead of IPL 2025. Bravo was the bowling coach of Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2024. Now finally he has left CSK and MS Dhoni. He was associated with this franchise for the last several years. He played for this team till the year 2023. Now KKR has included him in their team. Bravo will replace Gautam Gambhir in the KKR team. Under the guidance of Gambhir, KKR won the IPL 2024 title. KKR announced today.
Got responsibility after 4 hours of retirement
Bravo's appointment comes just four hours after he retired from all forms of cricket. Bravo announced this on Friday itself. Bravo holds the record for taking most wickets in T20 history. He has taken 631 wickets in 582 matches in this format. However, he got injured in the Caribbean Premier League this year. KKR CEO Venky Mysore confirmed that Bravo will work with all other Knight Riders franchises in the Caribbean Premier League. This also includes Major League Cricket in the United States and ILT-20 in the United Arab Emirates.
Venky Mysore confirmed
Venky said- It is very exciting that DJ Bravo has joined us. Whatever league he plays in, he has a deep desire to win. His extensive experience and knowledge will greatly benefit the franchise and all the players. We are also very pleased that it will join all our other franchises across the world – CPL, MLC and ILT20.
Bravo has played IPL
41-year-old Bravo was a part of Mumbai Indians for the first three seasons of IPL i.e. from 2008 to 2010. After this, in 2011, he was bought by Chennai Super Kings in the auction. Before Chennai's suspension in 2016, Bravo played an important role in helping the team win the title in 2011. When Chennai was suspended in 2016, he was bought by Gujarat Lions team. After the return of CSK in 2018, he once again joined the team and remained a part of the team till 2023.
Meanwhile, Chennai team became champion three times. Bravo announced his retirement from IPL in December 2022 and later replaced Lakshmipathy Balaji as CSK's bowling coach. Now he has got a new responsibility. Bravo has taken 183 wickets in 161 matches in IPL and has 1560 runs to his name. Which includes five half-centuries. He also became the first player in the world to win two Purple Caps in 2013 and 2015.