Bravo available for T20Is

CHENNAI: Former West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo has officially come out of international retirement, making himself available for selection in the West Indies T20I side in the lead-up to their men’s T20 World Cup defence in Australia next year.

Bravo, however, confirmed that he didn’t want to play any other format. “I would like to announce my return to international T20s for West Indies,” Bravo told Cricinfo in Chennai. “Once selected I’ll be fully committed to represent the region again in T20 cricket, which I think is exciting for West Indies cricket and fans, with the young talents around.”

Bravo had called time on his international career in October 2018, and turned his focus to playing franchise T20 cricket around the world. The 36-year old all-rounder has now made a u-turn following drastic changes in the West Indies management.

Ricky Skerritt has replaced Dave Cameron as the board president and former T20 World Cup-winning coach Phil Simmons is back in the mix. As part of the revamp, Kieron Pollard had been appointed captain of both the limited-overs teams ahead of the trip to India.

Bravo said that he was impressed by the clarity of thought and transparency in selection from the new management. “They understand and listen, they will have dialogues going back and forth, that’s the difference,” he said.

“And that’s why it was so easy for me to make a decision to come back and represent West Indies again. I speak to the captain, coach, the president, director of cricket and chairman of selectors, and I’ve confirmed that I’ll be available for T20I selection.”

Bravo’s return to T20I cricket is another step from West Indies towards getting the band back together for their T20I World Cup defence in 2020. More recently, Pollard captained West Indies to their first ODI series victory in five years, against Afghanistan.