On Saturday, West Indies star all-rounder Dwayne Bravo bid adieu from international cricket after a crushing defeat against Australia in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021.
Kieron Pollard played a cluttering knock of 44 from 31 deliveries and took West Indies to a fighting total of 157/7. Aussies opener David Warner 89 off 56, gunned down the target in 16.2 overs.
Bravo made 10 (12) in his final T20I innings and went wicketless after bowling 4 overs, giving 36 runs. In the mid-innings break, he received ‘Guard of Honour’ by his teammates, whereas the Australian players gave a lap of honour to Bravo at the Sheikh Zayed International Stadium.
Guard of Honour for Dwayne Bravo. 👏👏#DwayneBravo #WIvAUS #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/UdVHjijGpa
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) November 6, 2021
The ‘Player of the Match’ David Warner did champion dance with Bravo while bidding farewell.
#Australia created a guard of honour for #Bravo and #Gayle, both autographing the camera! #Bravo had a little champion dance with Warner!#WIvAUS #WIvsAUS #AUSvWI #AUSvsWI #T20WorldCup #T20WorldCup21 pic.twitter.com/oG9tDNTkO2
— BlueCap 🇮🇳 (@IndianzCricket) November 6, 2021
In the post-match presentation, Bravo said: “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.
Bravo also thanked Pollard for bringing him back into the squad ahead of the 2021 T20 World Cup.
“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 allowed me to play again, and I’m very grateful for that,” he added.
“I’m very happy to have someone like that that I can call as a friend, not just a teammate, but a friend,” Bravo said of Pollard. “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.”
Bravo made his international debut in 2004 against England. He played 91 T20Is, 164 ODIs and 40 Test matches for his national side. The all-rounder has the longest T20 career of 15 years. His contribution to West Indies Cricket will inspire generations.
