Dwayne Bravo will not sacrifice money for national team selection

West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo is a match-winner in the shortest format of cricket. He possesses exceptional abilities in batting, bowling, and fielding, for which he is wanted by many top teams of various leagues over the world. May it be Big Bash League (BBL), Indian Premier League (IPL) or Caribbean Premier League (CPL), he has been brilliant in any league he has played so far.

He was a vital cog in the Gujarat Lions’ squad in IPL last year. Unfortunately for Gujarat Lions, he missed this year’s IPL owing to an injury. Once again Bravo proved how influential a player he is, for the successful Lions of last year showed a dismal performance this year. Bravo picked up the injury while playing for BBL team Melbourne Renegades in December last year.

On return in international cricket

Bravo feels he will not be able to return to international cricket before the CPL commences later this year in August. However, he will bowl a couple of overs at the game for former West Indian legend Brian Lara on Friday. “My next competitive cricket will be for CPL. I am playing the game for Brian Lara on Friday. I’ll bowl two overs, maybe, just to see how it is getting back. International cricket is different. I want to give myself the best chance of coming back and playing the way I usually play, which gives 100% and do all the crazy things I do. I am not going to rush into anything. My target is to keep training and get my entire body in shape,” said Bravo while speaking to Barbados-based media house line & length.

On his current state of fitness and agility, Bravo said “I have improved a lot. I am closer to playing now than I was three-four months ago. The surgery itself was successful. It’s just a matter of continuing my rehab program. I don’t want to rush things, it’s a very severe injury. I want to make sure I am feeling good and comfortable in my mind.”

Dwayne indicated that he is ready to wear the national colors again in the T20 format. “I am available for T20 selection, it’s the only format in which I am available for selection. So if selected for T20s, I will play. I will always have the passion and the drive to play for West Indies. I am only limited in being able to play one format and those are things that I don’t have control over,” announced Bravo.

Bravo last featured in the West Indies lineup for an ODI way back in October 2014. He now needs to play the Regional Super50 List A competition to be eligible for selection in the ODIs again. The current state of relationship shared between the cricketers and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is not very sound.

No reason to sacrifice T20 leagues

Bravo feels there is no reason to sacrifice his T20 leagues contracts all over the world to play the in domestic competition. “I am not going to give up the contracts that I have around the world to come back and play in the domestic tournament. I did it already and I got burned. I will not allow the same mistake to happen again. I gave up half of my contract in BBL in 2015 to come and play and make myself eligible for selection for the World Cup and the Sri Lanka tour, but I was not selected,” said Bravo.

He concluded by saying, “Playing in those tournaments doesn’t guarantee you selection. It makes you available but it doesn’t guarantee selection. I am past the stage where I will give up a certain amount of money on my contract and make myself available without any guarantee. If the structure changes or something different happens, then yes.” Bravo’s decision may be a good news for all the franchise competitions around the world, but WICB surely will not be very happy with this decision.