Colombo, Sri Lanka – The West Indies have assembled some of the leading power-hitters of the modern era in their 15-man squad for the ICC World T20 tournament. The Windies also have in their line-up the class and elegance of Darren Bravo, the free-scoring left-hander, who might not have the power of team-mates such as Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard, but believes the key to his style of batting is to "play it smart".
"We have been here in Sri Lanka over a week now and we have had a good chance to look at the conditions and a few other teams. I have also been working on a few things in the nets. The aim is always to get better at what you do. If you keep it simple and play it smart you will get success. I always look to work the ball into the gaps and keep it ticking," the 23-year-old said.
"People tend to think that 20 overs is not a lot of overs, but I tend to look at it as balls – there are 120 balls in an innings and that is a lot of balls when you think about it. If I go in with 100 balls to go, I think that gives me the best possible chance to get a good start and manoeuvre the ball into the spaces. After that you then look to hit the big sixes and fours coming on at the end…just try to play it smart."
The West Indies will continue their preparations for the tournament with a full training session at Colts Cricket Ground on Thursday at 9 am. The regional side have been drawn in Group B alongside Australia and Ireland and both first round matches will be at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Their opening match will be against the Aussies on Saturday at 7:30 pm (10 am Eastern Caribbean Time/9 am Jamaica Time). The second match will be against the Irish on Monday, also under lights at 7:30 pm.
"I have played some good innings in the past and that has given me the confidence to go out and perform. It is important that I continue doing what I have been doing and that I believe in myself. As long as I do that I know I can get the job done for the team," added Bravo, who wears the Windies Number 46 jersey.
"It is very important for me to understand my role and responsibility in the team set-up. There are a lot of power-hittters in the team so it is important that when I get my chance, I look to settle down and bat around the others. It is something that the coach and myself, we spoke about, and I am quite settled with the role I have to play."
Full Squad: Darren Sammy (Captain), Dwayne Bravo (Vice Captain), Samuel Badree, Darren Bravo, Johnson Charles, Fidel Edwards, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin (Wicket-keeper), Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith.