Photo Credit: Cricket West Indies
West Indies star all-rounder Dwayne Bravo confirmed he will retire from international cricket at the end of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Following Thursday’s match against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi, Bravo announced he would be hanging up his boots in an interview with former captain Daren Sammy and commentator Alex Jordan on the ICC’s post-match Facebook Live show. This was confirmed with CWI Media. West Indies will have their final tournament match on Saturday afternoon against Australia at the Zayed Cricket Stadium
“I think the time has come. I’ve had a very good career. To represent the West Indies for 18 years, had some ups and downs, but as I look back at it, I’m very grateful to represent the region and the Caribbean people for so long,” Bravo said.
“To win three ICC trophies, two with my captain (Daren Sammy) on the left here. One thing I am proud about is that the era of cricketers we had we were able to make a name for ourselves on the global stage and not only do that but have silverware to show for it.”
A two-time T20 World Cup winner, Bravo has played 90 T20Is, taking 78 wickets and scored 1245 runs. He took the final catch when West Indies beat Sri Lanka in Colombo to win the 2012 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup for the first time. He again played a pivotal role in the West Indies amazing rode to their second title in 2016. The final ended in grand style against England at Eden Gardens.
Bravo has also been good in the other formats. He played 40 Tests and scored 2,200 runs – with three centuries and took 86 wickets. In 164 ODI appearances he made 2,968 runs and took 199 wickets.
Bravo and Chris Gayle are the only west Indians to have played all seven IC T20 World Cup tournament since 2007. Recently he recalled of his great joy on winning on his birthday. Please see here https://bit.ly/3EKgeFe
Bravo is a member of the historic Queen’s Park Club in Port-of-Spain and started his professional career with the Trinidad & Tobago in the regional competitions. He spoke proudly of the legacy his generation of Caribbean cricketers have been able to leave.
“It is important for us to have our own identity and not always be in the shadow of the previous legends. Obviously, what these guys have done in the 70s, 80 and early 90s, we respect that and these are the guys who inspired us to play the game.”
“This is a format that was born in 2008 or something like that, for us to dominate the way we dominate in that short period of time in a fairly new format – I remember having a conversation with you (Sammy) that ‘yes, Sir Viv Richards and Sir Gary Sobers have their own legacy, Sir Clive Lloyd and his team, but we have our opportunity to create our own’. We should be proud of ourselves.”
“We create our own legacy. Some people might think this is a format that a lot of people don’t respect, but the reality is this is an ICC tournament and it’s a tournament that is sanctioned by ICC cricket so we should be proud of what we have achieved.”
