‘Onus on bowlers as coach can’t do much about wides, no-balls’

Chennai: Despite their 12-run victory over the Lucknow Super Giants at Chepauk on Monday, the 13 wides and three no-balls bowled by the Chennai Super Kings pacers — following the four wides and two no-balls in the opener against Gujarat Titans — were a major concern for the side. So much so that skipper MS Dhoni warned that if the bowlers did not cut down on the extra deliveries, “they’ll be playing under a new captain”. Echoing Dhoni’s stance, bowling coach Dwayne Bravo has said that the wides and no-balls issue is individuals’ “personal problem” and he can only help them to a certain extent.“The bowlers have to take responsibility, because it is a personal problem. You can try and help them with their run-up and in many different ways, but at the end of the day, the bowler has to make that necessary adjustment because none of us will be on the field with him,” the former CSK all-rounder said during an interaction. Apart from the extras, death bowling was another area under the radar for the West Indian, who used to excel at the art in his playing days. “There’s a template that you try to follow. The bowling group, Eric (Simmons) and I are all on the same page. We are trying to get the guys to understand the philosophy around death bowling,” Bravo said.There have been very successful death bowlers like Lasith Malinga, butas per Bravo, there’s no point in trying to replicate their method. He said: “It’s impossible to coach the players to bowl a certain way. They have to develop their own style. We just have to encourage them to stick to the basics.”But Bravo was clear that the yorker continues to be the most reliable weapon for a pacer at the death. “Yorker is the best option, but it is also a very difficult ball to bowl. In the match against LSG there was a big improvement as compared to the first game, where we bowled just two yorkers,” said Bravo, who is the leading wicket-taker in IPL history.
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