Bravo to let his bat do the talking
By RENALDO MATADEEN Tuesday, June 28 2016
“I’LL LET my bat do the talking.†The words of Darren Bravo with tomorrow’s opening clash with St Lucia Zouks looming to open the 2016 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
The diminutive stroke-maker proved to be one of the most decisive factors in Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel’s maiden CPL title last year, offering a couple of crucial 80-plus knocks in his 291 runs total that couldn’t even see him crack the top five in the batting charts.
Bravo found his form either red-hot or icecold and this inconsistency bothered him in press conferences where he said little, at best. The left-hander, an integral part of the rebranded Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) and often deemed as Brian Lara’s successor, remained vocal about “answering doubters on the pitch.†He combined with his brother and captain, Dwayne, who grabbed a tournament-high 28 wickets, to capture the crown on their domestic stomping grounds at the Queen’s Park Oval - the venue for their opening four encounters. ‘Lil’ Bravo did manage to top the competition with 21 sixes, including a genius 86 in the first semi-final to eliminate Guyana Amazon Warriors last year.
“When he comes, he’ll come good. When the time comes to execute, he’ll execute,†stated Dwayne. “We’ve got full faith in Darren.
We know he’s the best batsman in the region,†coach Simon Helmot added.
“Darren is pure class and we’re not worried.
When he gets off, it’ll be fireworks,†said Jacques Kallis, the team’s leading batsmen last year -- now mentor. “Beautiful to watch and one of our most important assets,†owner Venky Mysore added as the Bravo brothers lifted the title.
On the heels of this talismanic Twenty20 (T20) showing, Bravo followed up with three majestic innings in the 2016 NAGICO Super50 which yielded 274 runs in just three innings at 91.33. TT Red Force retained their Super50 title and despite being full of confidence and trophies, Bravo shocked fans by opting out the Windies team that eventually won the WT20 two months later in March.
Bravo wanted to focus on long-format cricket regionally with the Red Force, whose collective showings left much to be desired.
The Queen’s Park star remained unperturbed and helped his club to a national treble before garnering 222 runs in the recent tri-series against Australia and South Africa -- leaving him the team’s second top-scorer behind Marlon Samuels. The highlight being 102 off 103 balls on Friday against South Africa to put them in the finals which they lost to the Aussies -- which he deemed his best-ever One-Day knock. Since the 2015 CPL, Bravo made it clear that the hiatus and demons of old that plagued him were put to bed. He wanted to concentrate on cricket and also, elevating the West Indies once more. The tri-series is testament to this although he added, “there’s room for improvement in all areas.†Last year was the first time Bravo made any serious impact on the scoring charts and he’ll be looking to duplicate that form and help TKR become the first champion to repeat in the CPL. He’ll be with the team until July 11 when he departs for Test duty against the visiting Indian contingent but until then, Bravo will be intimidating the Zouks, Tridents, Amazon Warriors and Tallawahs on his home turf before one last match away to the Guyanese franchise.
TKR fans will hope to get the best out of him while they have him and he acknowledged such. “I’m looking forward to the games we have here.
The home crowd will be a big part of these first four matches as they’ve always been our 12th man,†he said -- echoing teammates, Brendon McCullum and Hashim Amla, on the electric atmosphere expected from 9 pm local time for the first three home games.
“We’ve got a great squad and depth. We also have the belief we’ll repeat.†Lil’ Bravo knows that with limited appearances, what better place than here? What better time than now?
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