Quote:AS A child, Kraigg Brathwaite was scrawny and puny. And he would often get picked on and bullied in the school bus. Brathwaite, however, had protection. He had Rihanna. The future pop sensation was four years older than her Combermere schoolmate and would board the bus from the same stop in St Michael. Rihanna, then simply Robyn Fenty, would not only put Brathwaite on her lap; she would also beat up any kid who dared to bother the future West Indies opener.

Rihanna didn’t stop looking out for Brathwaite long after they’d both passed out of school. In fact, the fashion diva provided front-row seats to not just Brathwaite, who was the West Indies under-19 captain then, but the entire team for her concert in the USA when they were there for a camp before the junior World Cup in 2012.

Brathwaite, now 24, has grown taller with time. But he still possesses one of the slightest frames going around in international cricket. Over the last five days, he was up against some of the meanest bullies with ball in hand at England’s favourite bullying ground. But Brathwaite didn’t need any saving against the likes of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes at Headingley. He was the one saving the West Indies and their legacy."