The injury to Dwayne Bravo that kept him out of the 2019 edition of the Hero Caribbean Premier League and saw Kieron Pollard replace him as captain of the Trinbago Knight Riders may have been fortuitous.
Pollard had big shoes to fill, as Bravo had led the TKR to back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018.
The big West Indies captain, the most experienced T20 player in the history of the format, lost to eventual champions Barbados Tridents in the second qualifier for the competition’s final in 2019.
Still, he has retained his position as skipper in the team and has the blessing of his predecessor.
CEO of the TKR, Venky Mysore, revealed recently that Bravo, though very successful as captain of the team, had, for a long time, wanted to pass the baton, but he had delayed the action.
"The champion DJ Bravo has been coming to me year after year and asking me to give someone else the captaincy because he wants to just concentrate on playing and enjoying the game,” said Mysore.
Bravo, who recently came out of international retirement, has also played under Pollard for the West Indies and has lauded his approach to captaincy.
“I always told him not until I am ready and that time has come and he is very happy to play under Pollard,” said Mysore.
The TKR will open the CPL season against last year’s beaten finalists, the Guyana Amazon Warriors on August 18.
“Pollard was kind enough to accept the position to lead the team at the tournament. He said if we wanted him to do it he will and we said that we will be delighted to have him as captain again,” said Mysore.
Dwayne Bravo's skills and self-confidence on the big stage made him a match-winner in T20 cricket. Dangerous with the bat and cunning with the ball, Bravo proved his worth wherever he plied his trade.
He hit 107 against South Africa in April 2004-05 at Antigua to bring up his maiden century and in November 2005, scored a magnificent 113 against Australia at Hobart. He dazzled in the ODI series against India in May 2006, bamboozling the batsmen with his slower ones and chipping in with match-winning contributions with the bat.
He grew as a player in the limited-overs format in the 2006-07 season with a fluent unbeaten 112, his maiden ODI ton, against England in the Champions Trophy and achieved his best career figures, 4 for 39, against India in the last game before the World Cup.
His value as a Twenty20 player came into focus in the IPL, especially for the Chennai Super Kings for whom he became a fixture. In the 2013 season, he led the wickets tally with 32.
He was the first bowler to take 400 wickets in the format and is about to become the first to take 500 wickets, currently boasting an impressive haul of 497 T20 wickets.
Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 4s 6s
71 60 12 1151 66* 23.97 988 116.49 0 4 67 50
Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 4s 6s
455 367 103 6307 70* 23.89 4973 126.82 0 20 410 301
Mat Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10w
71 61 1151 1600 59 4/28 4/28 27.11 8.34 19.5 2 0 0
Mat Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10w
455 436 8869 12191 497 5/23 5/23 24.52 8.24 17.8 9 2 0
On many a Sunday, I realize that people have looked at the stories they've seen throughout the week with different lenses. I have my own personal take on some of these issues and I will share them with you. Welcome to #INCASEYOUMISSEDIT
Mental exhaustion or not enough effort on the field?
England beat the West Indies by 269 runs and took the series 2-1 to reclaim the Wisden Trophy forever. Windies captain Jason Holder, speaking at the end of the third Test, said, “It’s been challenging, it’s been really challenging, mentally some of the guys are a bit worn out.”
Though I agree it is difficult to play any sport during a pandemic and acknowledge the upheaval, surrounding social injustice issues, taking place, to simply attribute the Windies poor result to these issues is unacceptable. I agree the current climate is different than what anyone has ever experienced before but the Windies loss was brought about by a lack of team effort on the field.
Holder went on to say, “It could be this way for a little while, so we’ve got to find ways to make it work. Hopefully, things could ease up throughout the world and probably guys can get out of the hotel a little bit more, but it has been challenging for sure.”
Each match was played behind closed doors with players unable to feed off the crowd’s energy. While I agree that the conditions in which they played were not ideal, as professional athletes they knew the job at hand was to retain the Wisden trophy and play smart cricket.
The Windies made a great start to their tour with a win, at the Rose Bowl, but England found form in Manchester. The shortcomings of the Windies batsmen in English conditions were exposed numerous times. They conceded first-innings leads of 182 in the second test and 172 in the series decider. The most discouraging factor was the batsmen's inability to capitalize on the numerous starts that they got as a few of the batsmen did make half-centuries. The key difference between both squads was when England got opportunities, they went big, for example, Ben Stokes and Dom Sibley.
England’s bowlers were fresh and eager throughout and that ensured their dominance of the series. A key factor in England’s success was the class of bowlers that were available to choose from as well as the effective rotation of those bowlers. It was useful that none of England’s bowlers bowled in more than two matches – not even Ben Stokes and Dom Bess, who played every game but were not required to bowl. In the case of the Windies, our bowlers were overworked and two of our key bowlers most notably, Shannon Gabriel and Jason Holder, were struggling with niggles.
Though the mental strain of being away from their families and playing the game during the pandemic may have affected the Windies players’ performance, I don’t believe is it the main reason they lost the series.
Arsenal has aced the recipe for FA Cup success
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is hoping the FA Cup victory on Saturday will convince captain Pierre Emerick Aubameyang to stay at the club after they beat Chelsea 2-1. The Gunners captain scored twice to seal the win, taking his team to a 14th FA Cup success. Aubameyang has less than a year left on his contract and his future at the club has been a topic of discussion.
On Saturday, when Aubameyang dropped the trophy before raising it above his head, Arteta joked, “He needs more experience with trophies, we can get him more used to that.” Chelsea’s manager Frank Lampard also commended Aubameyang on his match-winning performance. The North Londoners have now landed a spot in UEFA’s second-tier competition next season.
This triumph has rectified some of the problems Arsenal had this season, especially after finishing 8th in the Premier League.
The TKR captaincy fits Polly
Kieron Pollard will continue to lead the Trinbago Knight Riders for CPL 2020. Last year, Pollard replaced Dwayne Bravo as captain after he was ruled out with a finger injury. The decision was a beneficial one and a team with a fit Bravo and Pollard can yield success.
Bravo, who led the team to three CPL titles previously, expressed to the owner that he would rather focus on his game, while Pollard leads the team. I think it is a perfect fit for the team as Pollard and Bravo are great friends and a healthy Bravo with Pollard at the helm puts TKR in a position to win another CPL title.
Pollard has scored 1759 runs in 70 matches, at a strike rate of 148.56. He is the 6th highest run-scorer in the history of the tournament. With the ball, Bravo is the leading wicket-taker with 97 scalps in 69 games. Together both players can use their individual achievements and personalities to get the best of the unit as they seek a 4th CPL title.
By the time Dwayne Bravo had scored his first One-Day International ton in 2006, his credentials as a bonified allrounder with real talent and skill had already been understood world over.
His batting has always suggested there was more there but it was his bowling that showed an incomparable depth. He has left many batsman swinging for the fences with full slower deliveries that inexplicably drop from the sky leaving them half-way through a shot and nowhere near the pitch of the ball.
Bravo’s statistics as an international cricketer, though, have been watered down by, injuries, controversy, and the lure of T20 Leagues with deep pockets.
This has meant intermittent international cricket for Bravo, and possibly a place among the great allrounders of the game from the region.
That said, Bravo is still playing and on the cusp of producing figures any allrounder would be proud of.
With a best of 6-43, Bravo has taken 199 wickets in ODI cricket at an average of 29.51 and with a strike rate of 32.7. He only averages 25 with the bat and has two centuries and 10 half-centuries to his name.
If there is anywhere his game has not lived up to its true potential, it is there with the bat. In the field, Bravo is also a lightning rod for brilliant moments. He is fast over the outfield and athletic. He is also a safe pair of hands anywhere on the field and will run you out if you take a chance to him.
Full name: Dwayne John Bravo
Born: October 7, 1983, Santa Cruz, Trinidad
Major teams: West Indies, Carib Beer XI, Chennai Super Kings, Chittagong Kings, Comilla Victorians, Dhaka Dynamites, DJ Bravo's XI, Dolphins, Essex, Gujarat Lions, ICC World XI, Kent, Lahore Qalandars, Maratha Arabians, Melbourne Renegades, Melbourne Stars, Middlesex, Mumbai Indians, Paarl Rocks, Peshawar Zalmi, Quetta Gladiators, RR Sarwan's XI, SC Joseph's XI, Shell Cricket Academy Invitation XI, Surrey, Sydney Sixers, Trinbago Knight Riders, Trinidad & Tobago, Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel, Trinidad & Tobago XI, University of West Indies Vice Chancellor's XI, UWI Vice Chancellor's Celebrity XI, UWI Vice Chancellor's XI, Victoria, West Indies A, West Indies Board President's XI, West Indies Board XI, Winnipeg Hawks
Playing role: Allrounder
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium
ODI Career (batting): West Indies (2004-2014)
Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100s 50s 4s 6s Ct
164 141 24 2968 112* 25.36 3606 82.30 2 10 240 58 73
ODI Career (bowling): West Indies (2004-2014)
Mat Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10w
164 150 6511 5874 199 6/43 6/43 29.51 5.41 32.7 6 1 0
Career Highlights
Dwayne Bravo has been out of international cricket for a while and when he returned most recently for the West Indies, he looked rusty.
West Indies T20 specialist and former captain of the One-Day International team, Dwayne Bravo had some interesting choices to make during an interview on Cricbuzz, leaving out some big names on a list of five of the best T20 players in the game today.
Bravo, who was interviewed by Cricbuzz’s Harsha Bhogle, was given six players to choose from in each of five rounds of choices and here’s what he came up with.
In the first round, Bravo was made to choose from among Australia’s Matthew Hayden and David warner, India’s Virender Sehwag, New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum, and the West Indies’ Dwayne Smith and Chris Gayle.
Bravo chose Gayle.
The second round saw Bravo having to pick one of India’s Gautam Gambir and KL Rahul, England’s Johnny Bairstow and Joss Buttler, and Australia’s Shane Watson and Chris Lynn.
Bravo chose Watson.
India’s Virat Kohli was lined up against teammate Ambati Rayudu and Suresh Raina, as well as South Africa’s Faf Du Plessis and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson.
According to Bravo, while Raina is his favourite batsman, he would have to go with Kohli.
Up next were India’s Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Yuvraj Singh, Australia’s Michael Hussey, England’s Ben Stokes, and South Africa’s AB de Villiers.
Bravo went with de Villiers.
In the final round Bravo had a major struggle with picking from a grouping of India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Hardik Pandya, Australia’s Glenn Maxwell, and the West Indian pair of Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard.
Bravo eventually went with Dhoni.
So Bravo’s choices as the top-five players today, given the imitations of the choices put to him were Chris Gayle, Shane Watson, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Given the grouping of choices, is Bravo correct?
Veteran West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has rated the current squad of players as better overall than past T20 World Cup-winning teams.
Under the captaincy of Darren Sammy and with the likes of Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Kieron Pollard, and Dwayne Smith the West Indies captured the world titles at the 2010 and 2016 editions. The current set-up, while having some of the same players who played in the previous edition, like Pollard and including Bravo, mostly consists of a new generation of West Indies talent.
Bravo, who was recently recalled to the team, admits that the most impressive aspect of the new guns is a deep and talented batting line-up, which interestingly is absent top T20 batsman Chris Gayle.
“In the last series in Sri Lanka, we had a team meeting, and coach Phil [Simmons] put the team down, the list, and he put it down in batting order, and he had my name down at No. 9," Bravo said in a recent interview with Espn.
"And I said to the guys, I said listen, I don't think I was ever involved in a T20 team when I am down to bat at No. 9,” he added.
"I'm just in awe of our batting line-up, and I said to the guys, I said listen, I think this team is actually better than our World-Cup-winning team, and that is no joke because at the end of the day, you have batting all the way down to No. 10.
"And imagine, Sunil Narine is not even in the team as yet. So just imagine, when Sunil comes into the team, Sunil will be batting at No. 10, or No. 11. He's an opening batsman now in T20.
"So just imagine a full-strength West Indies team, everyone is on deck. As a bowler, you get Evin Lewis out, [Shimron] Hetmyer comes in. You get Hetmyer out, [Nicholas] Pooran comes in, you get Lendl Simmons out, [Andre] Russell comes in, you get Russell out, [Kieron] Pollard comes in, you get Pollard out, Rovman Powell comes in, and it keeps going, going, and then you reach the champion DJ Bravo.”
The West Indies were in the middle of preparation for the next edition of the T20 World Cup before the coronavirus pandemic struck. The tournament was scheduled to take place from 18 October to 15 November 2020 but could yet be pushed back.
Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Lendl Simmons, Sunil Narine and Darren Bravo are among 10 players retained by the Trinbago Knight Riders for the 2020 CPL season.
West Indies veteran Dwayne Bravo believes the West Indies possess the tools to dominate T20 Internationals.
Veteran West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo believes T20 star Andre Russell has taken up the mantle of legendary players like Chris Gayle and Brian Lara for the regional team.
The swashbuckling 31-year-old was in fine form for the Windies during their recent tour of Sri Lanka, picking up man-of-the-series honours in a 2-0 win over the home team. In fact, with a T20 strike rate of 171.29, the signature of Russell has become one of the most coveted on contracts all over the globe. His development has impressed the Trinidadian all-rounder, who knows a thing or two about high-quality performances himself.
“It’s the same thing I used to say about Chris Gayle, we are happy to have someone like Gayle representing us, we don’t have to come up and bowl against him in an international match. I think it’s the same with Andre Russell. Andre Russell now is our Chris Gayle, is our Brian Lara in the T20 format. He is a superstar, he’s the best player and we are happy,” Bravo told local Trinidad-based radio station I955 FM.
“He’s the best in the world and we’re happy to have him in our team.”
Russell has claimed a number of titles with various franchises, including five in eight months in 2016. He was named in the team of the tournament at the T20 World Cup that same year.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) chairman of selectors Roger Harper has insisted the door remains open for all players ahead of the T20 World Cup, leaving the possibility for the inclusion of the likes of veteran players like Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo.
Recent statements in some quarters had suggested that the team had moved past the veteran Windies batsman, who holds the record for the most career runs in T20 cricket with 13,013.
Gayle has not played a T20I for the Windies since March 2019 but has continued to feature for various T20 leagues around the world. Bravo returned to the West Indies T20I side after over three years out of action, to play against Ireland at home in January and then the Sri Lanka T20Is earlier this month.
“I think all available players are part of our plan at this point,” Harper said on the Mason & Guest radio show in Barbados, making specific reference to comments made by former Windies opening batsman Philo Wallace earlier this week.
“At this point, we’re still trying to find out what’s our best combination, the best composition of the team…and seeking opportunities to determine that,” he added.
“Come the last month or so prior to the World Cup, we’ll have to try to really narrow that down so the players can all get used to playing together, and understand how each other performs in different situations, and each person understands what their roles are and how to go about it. But at this point, everyone that’s available will be considered.”
Both players are expected to take place in the upcoming IPL tournament.
Recently recalled Windies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo is confident the talent of the current squad could see the team return to dominating world cricket in 10 to 12 years.
The 36-year-old recently returned to the team ahead of the ongoing T20 series against Ireland, after nearly four years out of action. The return to the fold was an unhappy one as Ireland registered a rare win over the hosts. There were a few bright sparks, however, with Bravo himself claiming 28 for 2.
The veteran all-rounder would also have witnessed up close the new generation of players tasked with taking Windies cricket back to the top. He admits that he is impressed so far and eager to play a part.
“I feel good to know that I am among this talented squad here and I think these guys have 10, 12 years in front of them where they can dominate world cricket at some point,” Bravo said.
“My role is not to come back and try and take anyone’s spot or to play every game but to try and share whatever knowledge I have and have gained over the years. I believe with a captain like Polly and a coach like Phil (Simmons) that these young players can produce great things for West Indies in times to come.”
Recently recalled Windies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo is confident of providing part of the solution needed for the team regarding its noted lack of quality in the fast bowling department.
The 36-year-old was recently recalled for the team’s upcoming series against Ireland after being out of international action for four years. During the time, however, the all-rounder has enhanced his reputation as one of the sport’s premier death bowlers.
Chairman of selectors Roger Harper admitted that a primary reason for Bravo’s inclusion is geared towards bolstering the team’s death bowling.
"Death bowling is an art," Bravo said in a recent espncricinfo interview.
"Not many people around the world have really nailed death bowling to the T. If you ask anyone in world cricket to name five death bowlers in the last decade, definitely my name will come along with Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell Starc,” he added.
"It is not an easy time of the game, that's why it is called death. A special skill is required to bowl in those situations. Most times, if you have the ball in the death overs, and you don't win the game, everyone turns to you, and says, "okay, it is because of the last over.”
With the team’s struggles containing batsmen during the middle and death overs, often on full display, as it was at the ICC World Cup, Bravo hopes to serve as a mentor to a new generation of West Indies bowlers.
“My motivation also to try and work with current bowlers. There's [Sheldon] Cottrell, there's Keemo Paul, there's Alzarri Joseph, there's Oshane Thomas, there's Kesrick Williams. Collectively all of us have to get better, myself included. But with the experience that I have, I can get them to understand the importance of certain deliveries and when to bowl certain deliveries and work on a better finishing game plan."
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