Former West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has revealed his cricketing heroes and his childhood dream that during childhood days he only wanted to play for West Indies someday, Bravo named five Caribbean legends that he got inspired Desmond Haynes, Brian Lara, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose, and Ian Bishop.
Bravo, who retired from international cricket after last year’s ICC T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, has played 40 Tests, 164 ODIs and 91 Twenty20 Internationals for the West Indies. He has scored 6423 runs and taken 363 wickets in 295 international matches.
Bravo is currently playing for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League. CSK star Dwayne Bravo has taken 16 wickets in 10 matches this IPL season. Recalling his childhood, he said that his father was the main force in his career. He commented on this in an interview with CSK TV.
“My dad is one of the main driving forces behind my career. He has this pick up van and he will drive through the village from house to house and if there is a boy child in that house between the age of eight to fifteen, he would say come in the truck. Let’s go to cricket,” Bravo told CSK TV.
“He took pride in that. He didn’t have to know you. He will just drive around the village and just pick up kids and take them to coaching. It was something to get us active, to get us away from the negative side of life. So I used to always tag along. I was younger, around six years old and everyone else was older than me. That is how it was in the Caribbean.” Bravo added
Speaking about the cricket culture in the Caribbean, He also said that cricket is the only sport in the Caribbean that unites the West Indies.
“Cricket is the main sport in the Caribbean, and it is the only sport that actually brings the Caribbean people as one. It is the only unifying sport in the Caribbean. And, cricket is the sport that puts the West Indian people together. We are all independent countries – Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, we are all independent islands.”
He further added that despite being divided into independent states, all in cricket are coming together to represent the entire Caribbean people. “Playing for the West Indies is a dream come true for every growing child,” he said.
“But, when it comes to cricket, we all come together to represent the entire Caribbean people and it is everybody’s dream to play for West Indies because as a kid growing up, that is all you hear… West Indies, West Indies, West Indies . And, I never got the opportunity to see Sir Viv play, and the greats before him, Sir Gary, and these guys play. “
He also mentioned that his father was a big cricket fan and that he often talks about former West Indies greats. Desmond Haynes, Lara, Walsh, Ambrose and Ian Bishop were all heroes of his childhood.
“But my dad is a huge cricket fan and he always talks about the three Ws, Gary Sobers, Gordon Greenidge, and these guys, and when I started to follow the game and understand the game, there was Desmond Haynes, Lara, Walsh, Ambrose and Ian Bishop. Those are my childhood heroes, and I just wanted to be a West Indian player someday, and thankfully it happened. I have lived my childhood dream and I am happy,” he added.