Darren Bravo: The Windies’ gift to the world in 2011

A round up of West Indies’ performance and their player of the year for 2011 >

The year 2011 saw many new stars emerging on the world stage as well as many sparkling performances from the established maestros. For West Indies, this was a relatively satisfactory year despite the long standing struggle between WIPA and WICB. Under Darren Sammy, the Test team seamed to move forward as they looked settled as a unit even without Chris Gayle who continued to be ignored due to his scuffle with WICB.

Three men - Darren Sammy, Devendra Bishoo and Darren Bravo - shined for West Indies in the year 2011. 

Darren Sammy led the team admirably, shrugging off the off-field problems and carrying his team forwards without the services of players like Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor and Dwayne Bravo. His performance as the third seamer in team was more than satisfactory; in fact he was instrumental in the win against Pakistan at Guyana.

Devendra Bishoo grew as a reliable spinner with each match he played. In a team renowned for tear-away fast bowlers, his presence is an emblem fresh air. He took wickets in both Tests as well as limited overs cricket. He was not just a containment option for his captain; rather he produced high class spells and took crucial wickets. He was the leading wicket-taker for the Windies with 39 scalps in Tests at 36.23. He also took 20 wickets in 13 ODI that he played in the year 2011.

Darren Michael Bravo was the highest run scorer for them with 949 runs at 49.94, sitting at number 4 over all. He scored 3 hundreds, most by a West Indies player in 2011. In ODIs, he was not as successful as he fared way below Lendl Simmons who scored his 792 runs, highest for West Indies by a margin, at 49.50.

In the Test arena, although West Indies still lost more matches then they won, they had many reasons to smile. They played their first Test series against Pakistan at home in May. After winning the first Test at Guyana, riding on the brilliance of their captain Darren Sammy, they lost the next in St Kitts. But the overall performance was widely hailed by their supporters. Their loss was mainly due to their failure as a batting unit, but Darren Bravo fared well against a strong Pakistan bowling attack. Ravi Rampaul led the bowling charts for his team.

Their next home assignment was against Indians, the World’s second ranked Test team. Despite the absence of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, Indians were too strong for the home team as they proved by winning the series. West Indies were good enough to limit the margin of defeat to 1-0. They lost by 63 runs at Jamaica but the next two Tests ended in draws. At Dominica in the last Test, Kirk Edwards scored a defiant century on debut and along with Chanderpaul he buried India’s chances to win. Chanderpaul and Darren Bravo led the runs chart while Fidel Edwards was the leading wicket taker in the series.

Then they achieved their first Test series win abroad since 2003 in Bangladesh. After drawing first Test of the 2-match series, they trounced the home team with a big margin in the second at Mirpur. Davendra Bishoo and Fidel Edwards sparkled with the ball, but the real stars were Kirk Edwards (century in 1^st innings and 86 in the 2nd) and Darren Bravo whose enterprising knock of 195 in the second innings set up the match and the series for the Windies.

West Indies capped off the year by playing a tough 3-match Test series in India. They came back their heads held high despite 2—0 loss as they played obdurate cricket after being trounced in the first two Tests. The avoidance of a likely white-wash on Indian soil was not a bad job at all. In the first Test at Delhi, West Indies surprised India by getting huge first innings lead, but capitulated in the second innings to hand the home side an easy win. At Kolkata, Darren Bravo impressed with another second innings century as he stood out prominent among his colleagues in an innings defeat.

The 3^rd Test at Mumbai will be remembered for its sensational final moments apart from the fact that Tendulkar narrowly missed his hundredth international ton. West Indies compiled a mammoth 590 thanks to another brilliant hundred by Bravo. With India needing 243 on the last day, West Indies held their nerves to come out with a tense draw when the scores were level.

On the whole, West Indies played 10 Tests, winning 2 and losing 4. Out of 28 ODIs, they won 10 and lost 17 matches with one being no result. They lost all but one ODI series, against Bangladesh in Bangladesh which they won 2-1. Their high point was reaching World Cup quarter final, which they lost to Pakistan.

In 22 years old Darren Bravo, West Indies have found a gem. In the mould of legendry Brian Lara, this young man has quite similar stats to him after 12 Test matches. Both left-handers are Trinidadians and have similar face cuts especially upper half of the face. Although Bravo does not possess the aura which Lara used to have, his stance and footwork is astonishingly comparable to the wizard. And despite the fact that he lacks something indescribable which Lara enjoyed while batting, he has all the shots in his armoury which keep us peeping into the past.


As a cousin of Prince Lara, he used to idolize him in his childhood and no wonder when he started playing himself a certain Lara was embodied in his demeanors. The way he walks in to bat, takes his guard, lifts his bat and plays his strokes is reminiscent of the man he modeled his game on.

In a team renowned for batting collapses, his presence is both a reassuring one and threatening for the opposition. At times he can put his head down and grind his team out of trouble, but mostly he is in his flowing best. He has proved himself at the Test arena by scoring big and at important junctures. Two of his three hundreds in the year 2011 were 150-plus scores which prove he can play big knocks, sign of a great Test batsman. Like any good Caribbean batsman, he does not waste time at the crease as he scores at good strike rate. Runs seem to flow off his bat, and when they are not coming in conventional way he uses his feet to play eye-catching drives, cuts and pulls.

His 195 against Bangladesh at Mirpur is the highlight of his short career so far. He scored his runs quickly and most of his 12 boundaries were a treat to watch. He hit 5 sixes in 297-ball innings – a sign of his fearlessness and class. He passed stern test of skills against quality spinners with honours, when he played in India. His score of 166 against Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha in Mumbai was a good learning experience for him apart from proof of his abilities.

It is quite strange that he has not been able to transfer his success at the Test level into the limited overs versions. With the strokes that he has and talent that he possesses it will not be too long before we see a complete batsman dominating the cricket world.  

Darren Bravo is a great prospect for the future. His presence in the middle order will act as a catalyst for the progress of West Indian cricket. Players like him will help them build a strong team under Darren Sammy who has proven to be a great find himself as captain.

Darren Bravo indeed is a gift from the West Indies to the world of cricket.


Credit: AFP (Image)