West Indies’ title-clinching victory in the ICC World T20 2016 was in many ways a revelation for a nation plagued with numerous controversies.
It showed that despite being shunned and criticized for reasons best known to the critics, the West Indian players possessed an indomitable will and an immaculate team spirit, and that they were determined to win the championship and provide the much-needed respite to the deeply hurt Caribbean community.
It also showed how formidable a side West Indies was when it came to T20 cricket, as the playing XI had potentially 10 all rounders, and all of them had impressive, if not terrific, records in T20 cricket.
The likes of Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell, and the newly unearthed gem, Carlos Brathwaite, stepped up to take responsibilities throughout the tournament, and that helped the West Indies maintain a terrific win record, winning all of their games except one.
The emotional outburst from the players, especially from the captain Darren Sammy, and Samuels explained the struggles that the team had to go through and the determination they showed to overcome all odds and be crowned as the ‘Champions.’
If the victory was emphatic, the trademark celebration that followed has earned a reputation for itself as well, as the celebratory song ‘Champion’ perfectly eulogized the journey of the Caribbean conglomeration of nations to the glory that earned the players and the fans, the much-needed respect that had gone begging since the turmoil between the WICB and the cricketers first surfaced.
Dwayne Bravo: The T20 lynchpin
Hence, the song that has marked the culmination of years of anguish and disgust, both of the fans as well as the cricketers is now the favourite of every Caribbean cricket lover, and so has been the man who composed the anthem, but is, as his captain Darren Sammy pointed out during the post-match briefing, a cricketer, and not a singer or a dancer.
Dwayne Bravo’s role in every West Indian team that he has been a part of has been extremely critical, and over the years, he established himself as a menacingly deceptive medium-pace bowler.
With his Test and ODI careers being prematurely cut short, courtesy the ongoing tussle between the WICB and the players, Bravo, since 2014, has been mostly involved in T20 cricket, be it club cricket or international cricket.
It is here, in the shortest format of the game that he has carved out a niche for himself, and has earned a reputation of a T20 maestro. His records, both in international T20s as well as domestic ones tell the tale quite comprehensively.
| Dwayne Bravo | Matches | Wickets | Economy | Bowling Average | Best Bowling Performance |
| All T20s | 294 | 304 | 8.02 | 24.15 | 5/23 |
| T20I | 61 | 49 | 8.44 | 27.51 | 4/28 |
| IPL | 94 | 111 | 8.08 | 21.29 | 4/22 |
| BBL | 14 | 13 | 7.66 | 32.26 | 3/21 |
| CPL | 31 | 47 | 7.80 | 17.70 | 5/23 |
I would start off by mentioning the fact that he is the only bowler in world cricket to have more than 300 T20 wickets to his name.
Having played 294 matches in itself is a testimony to the fact that he is a potential match-winner in the shortest format of the game and has been in heavy demand across clubs all over the world. Maintaining a decent economy rate of 8.02 even after playing close to 300 matches is a remarkable feat in itself.
Bravo ranks 13th in the all-time list of the highest wicket takers in T20I, 5th in the list of top wicket-takers in the IPL and is the all-time highest wicket-taker in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
However, there are still 12 players who have taken more wickets than him in international T20s and a few of them have played fewer matches as compared to the Caribbean all-rounder, with better economy rates and averages. So, what is it that makes me argue for him as the one at the topmost echelons of T20 death bowling?
It is, quite frankly, his ability to win matches for his sides on a consistent basis. Not just through his bowling, but through his batting and sharp fielding as well, Bravo has been able to turn matches on their heads and has created a significant impact on the side.
Statistically speaking, out of the 295 matches that he has played, 163 have been in a winning cause, wherein he has picked up 217 wickets at an economy rate of 7.40 and a stupendous average of 18.45. Out of these games, 80 have been won when Bravo bowled in the second innings, picking up 108 wickets at an economy rate of 7.02 and an even better average of 16.67.
In the matches that the Chennai Super Kings, the most successful franchise Bravo has been associated with, have won with the Caribbean in the playing XI, he has picked up 56 wickets from 45 matches at an economy rate of 7.64 and an average of 20.23.
The performances go a notch higher when we consider his performances for Trinidad and Tobago (now Trinbago Knight Riders) in the CPL, wherein in a winning cause he has picked up 30 wickets from 23 games at 18.33 and conceding runs at 6.47 runs per over.
Clearly, Bravo knows how to win matches for his side, and these records, given the number of matches that he has played, have surpassed the records created by all of his fellow bowlers.
Slower deliveries: The new game-changers
In an era where fast bowlers are bowling slower and slower, and the slower bowlers are darting fast missiles, Bravo has brought a sort of freshness to his game through the plethora of slower deliveries that he has up his sleeve.
The off-cutter, the leg-cutter, the back-of-the-hand delivery, and the cross-seam delivery had been traditionally used by fast bowlers for years, but with Bravo, it hasn’t been just that. For each over, Bravo supposedly has 12 slower balls in his arsenal, each one as deadly as the other.
Now, he has started combining the lack of pace with his immaculate line and length and has started manufacturing deliveries that fox the batsmen due to their slowness, invite the shot due to the length of the ball, and then bamboozle them as if it was some sort of a ‘hit-baiting.’
The 32-year-old has variations of the slower bouncer and the slow yorker, both of which have been extremely hard to put away, and latter has emerged out as the slower version of Lasith Malinga’s toe-crushers, the ones you knew were coming your way, but there was only little that you could do about it.
The dismissal of David Miller, the captain of the Kings XI Punjab in their match against the Gujarat Lions in IPL 2016 was an example of just how unplayable the slower yorker could be.
Bravo holds the seam in different positions, and if the wicket is slightly on the slower side, his variations could potentially be game-defining deliveries. Almost all the deliveries that he bowls now are slow in pace, and despite the fact that the batsman knows what’s coming his way, there isn’t much that he can do about it.
This is what makes him an excellent death bowler, especially in T20 cricket, where a good death-ball bowler could also be a match-winner. In a format with sudden changes in momentum, the ability to maintain pressure on the opposition over after over is gold dust.
That is the reason why Bravo has been such a find for the West Indies and is heavily in demand across T20 franchises world over.
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download CricRocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more! 🚀☄️
