Dwayne Bravo says he intends to play franchise cricket for some more years if his body allows and insisted that time was right to finally call time on his international career and let the younger players take West Indies cricket forward.
Bravo, 38, played his swansong game on Saturday as West Indies exited the T20 World Cup following an eight wicket defeat against Australia.
He came out of retirement in 2019 to help the West Indies defend their T20 title but it could not happen as they could manage to win only one of their five Super 12 games.
“I will continue playing franchise cricket for a few more years as long as my body will allow me to,” Bravo, who played for the West Indies for 18 years, said during the post-match press conference.
“My aim was to retire a few years ago, but with a change of presidency 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,” he said.
“... 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.”
Asked about the special moments of his career, he mentioned getting his Test cap at Lord’s and “walking on the field for the first time”.
“That was a special moment. Obviously my childhood hero, (Brian) Lara, was a captain. That was very special. Winning the ICC Champions Trophy in 2004 was another special moment for me.
“My first Test against South Africa, another special moment. And obviously the two T20 World Cup wins were a special moment. It was good that I was able to have some success throughout my career.”
Bravo shared his special bond with skipper Kieron Pollard, who was instrumental in his coming out of retirement. “In terms of friendship with Polly, I’m his senior but when he came into cricket at a very young age, we all spotted his talent and his ability. I wish he could have played some Test cricket. He didn’t even know he was good enough or qualified to play.”
