The West Indies allrounder has indicated he would like to get into a coaching role in the future
“I will continue playing franchise cricket for a few more years as long as my body will allow me to,” Bravo said after the game at Abu Dhabi. “My aim was to retire a few years ago, but with a change of presidency (at CWI) and change of leadership comes a change of heart, and I wanted to give back to West Indies because I was still in a good place physically and enjoy my cricket.”
“I had a brief chat with Pollard and said, would I like to come back and play in the shortest format, which is my specialty,” Bravo said. “And they gave me the opportunity to play again, and I’m very grateful for that.
“I’m very happy to have someone like that that I can call as a friend, not just a teammate, but a friend,” Bravo said of Pollard. “He’s one of the main reasons why I also came out every time to give my best chance to see if we could push for another World Cup title, but it wasn’t to be. But I’m still very happy with the way how he led West Indies cricket in the last two years. West Indies needed strong leadership, and he’s a strong leader. We know this [World Cup] wasn’t meant to be, but I know as an individual, he will bounce back strong with his character, and I’m very happy that I was able to be a part of this journey with him.”
For his part, Bravo identified several young stars who could go on to fill his shoes in the West Indies team, naming Dominic Drakes, Odean Smith and Romario Shepherd – all of whom had breakout CPL 2021 seasons and were in the running to make the World Cup squad too – and said this was the right time for him to walk away.
“I think this was the right moment for me to walk away from the game, and allow the next generation and young players who I share a very good friendship with, to come through,” Bravo said. “They still see me around but more passing information around as policy and trying to give my experience back to the next group of players, and hopefully they can also have a 12-to-18-year career as well.”
While he still wants to play franchise cricket, Bravo indicated that if he does hang up his playing boots for good, a coaching role could be on the cards.
“Definitely at some point if I decide to walk away from the game finally, I would love to get back in the coaching department, so I already started to put things in place for when it’s that time,” Bravo said. “Definitely you will see me around. Like I said, cricket has given me everything. Cricket has given me the life I always wanted for myself and my family. So I think it’s only fair that I love to give back to the game that has given me so much. Again, I keep encouraging myself because of the talent I see coming through in West Indies, and whatever team I play for around the word, so definitely you will see me involved.”
Saurabh Somani is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo