Dwayne Bravo, who will be donning the Trinbago Knight Riders’ jersey this edition, has called time on his Caribbean Premier League (CPL) career. The West Indian player who has taken 630 T20 wickets, the highest by anyone, will appear for the last time in a professional tournament on his home soil. He already has five CPL titles to his name but the Instagram video he posted to announce the big decision showed him hoping for another and ending his career with ‘the last dance’ in front of his people, on his home ground. Bravo said in the video,
“I just want to ensure the last dance finishes at home. It’s not about the wickets, the trophies, the success that I have. For me, what is important is that I want to be remembered as a good person, as a teammate and a good human being.”
The video was captioned as,
“It’s been a great journey. This season will be my last one and I’m looking forward to playing my final professional tournament in front of my Caribbean people. TKR is the place where everything started for me and will end with my team.”
The 40-year-old retired from T20 internationals after West Indies’ early departure from the T20 World Cup in 2021. Interestingly, Dwayne Bravo had earlier come out of retirement in December 2019 for the very tournament, however, he could not help revive his moribund side.
Hailed as one of the best T20 players, the Trinidadian cricket was once a part of West Indies’ best T20 side, who famously lifted two T20 World Cups in the last decade. Their first T20 World Cup came in 2012 in Sri Lanka where the Caribbean team outdid the hosts by 36 runs in Colombo. Then again during the T20 World Cup in 2016, the Darren Sammy-led side thrashed England by 4 wickets at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Bravo’s contribution in both the finals helped West Indies cement their position.
He already has made a career for himself in the coaching world. After retiring from the Indian Premier League (IPL) last year, the former cricketer joined Chennai Super Kings as their bowling coach. He also coached Afghanistan during the recently concluded T20 World Cup, where the team made it to their first semi final in an ICC tournament.
Four of his five CPL titles came during his stint with Trinbago Knight Riders, formerly known as Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel. He even successfully led his team to a title defense in 2018. Most recently he won the CPL trophy with St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in 2021, his first time representing and winning for a non-Trinidadian side.
Besides his CPL victories, the all-rounder is also the highest wicket-taker in the Caribbean Premier League, with 128 scalps in his kitty. All in all, the player dubbed Johnny has represented 27 franchise teams across the world and has won as many as 17 trophies with these teams. It must be noted here that the Trinidad-born might play in other franchise tournaments as the announced retirement only concerns his outings in the CPL.
