T20 World Cup 2021 | Will continue playing franchise cricket as long as my body permits, says Dwayne Bravo
Dwayne Bravo wants to play franchise cricket for few more years
|After retiring from international cricket on Saturday, Dwayne Bravo has said that he would like to play franchise cricket until his body permits him to. Bravo, thanked selectors for giving him another opportunity to represent West Indies at the World Cup, adding that he'll continue to help the team.
T20 World Cup 2021 hasnāt been a very good tournament for the West Indies. The experienced all-rounders in the team Dwayne Bravo had announced that T20 World Cup 2021 would be his last international tournament and the match against AustraliaĀ on Saturday was his farewell match in T20Is. Bravo played 91 T20Is and scored 1255 runs with an average of 22.02. He picked 78 wickets in at an economy rate of 8.12. In his last match for West Indies, Bravo scored 10 runs and gave away 36 runs without taking any wicket as his team lost the match by 8 wickets.Ā
Reflecting his retirement from T20Is, Bravo said that he has retired from international but would like to ply his trade in T20 leagues.
"I will continue playing franchise cricket for a few more years as long as my body will allow me to. My aim was to retire a few years ago, but with a change of presidency (at CWI) and change of leadership comes a change of heart, and I wanted to give back to West Indies because I was still in a good place physically and enjoy my cricket,ā he stated after the match against Australia.
Bravo has played several leagues across the world in different playing conditions. He made his Test debut in 2004 and played first T20I match in 2006 vs New Zealand.Ā Bravo didnāt play for West Indies from October 2016 to the end of 2019. Kieron Pollard becoming captain of the team in January 2020 changed things in the team and Bravo came back in the team.Ā
"I had a brief chat with Pollard and said I would like to come back and play in the shortest format, which is my specialty. And they gave me the opportunity to play again, and I'm very grateful for that,ā he revealed.
The tournament turned out to be a disaster for West Indies as they managed to pull of just one victory from five matches and finished fifth in the points table of Super 12 Group 1. The collapse of batting order in Super 12 fixtures was the main reason for the exit of the team from tournament. Sharing his equation with Pollard and his opinion on Pollardās leadership, Bravo said that he share a friendly relationship with his captain. Also he backed Pollard saying that he is a strong leader and will bounce back with his character.
"I'm very happy to have someone like that that I can call as a friend, not just a teammate, but a friend. He's one of the main reasons why I also came out every time to give my best chance to see if we could push for another World Cup title, but it wasn't to be. But I'm still very happy with the way how he led West Indies cricket in the last two years. West Indies needed strong leadership, and he's a strong leader. We know this [World Cup] wasn't meant to be, but I know as an individual, he will bounce back strong with his character, and I'm very happy that I was able to be a part of this journey with him,ā he opined.
Reflecting on his decision to retire from T20Is, Bravo said that this was the right moment for him to walk away from the game.
"I think this was the right moment for me to walk away from the game, and allow the next generation and young players who I share a very good friendship with, to come through. They still see me around but more passing information around as policy and trying to give my experience back to the next group of players, and hopefully they can also have a 12-to-18-year career as well,ā he opined.
Bravo still aims to play in franchise cricket but sharing his plans after quitting the sport as a player, he said that he would like to be in a coaching role.Ā
"Definitely at some point if I decide to walk away from the game finally, I would love to get back in the coaching department, so I already started to put things in place for when it's that time," he concluded.
