ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Darren Bravo has been rewarded for a season of heavy scoring for his native Trinidad & Tobago in regional competitions with selection to the West Indies’ squad for the first two of four One-day Internationals against India next week.
Bravo, the younger brother of all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, is the only completely new member of the 13-member squad for the two matches which will be contested on Friday and Sunday at Sabina Park.
The left-hander is commonly referred to as the Brian Lara Carbon Copy, since his batting style bears sharp resemblance to that of his T&T compatriot and West Indies batting legend.
Bravo scored 605 runs at an average of 43.21 in nine matches of the regional four-day competition this year.
He scored 105 against Windward Islands at Pointe-A-Pierre, and 111 against Barbados at the same venue.
Fidel Edwards is a notable absentee, and the news release from the WICB which detailed the team noted that he was still recovering from a lower back injury and is unavailable for selection,
There are other notable exclusions from the squad previous ODI series against England in May.
Three of them – Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard, and Darren Sammy – were members of the squad that took part in the Twenty20 World Cup.
Batsman Dale Richards has overcome an injury that cut short his trip to England, and has been playing club cricket in his native Barbados, but he has not been chosen.
The selectors have however, kept faith with all-rounder Dave Bernard Jr. He has been a virtual tourist for the entire period West Indies have spent in England, and has only played in a few practice matches on the trip.
His previous ODI experience was limited to a few matches during Australia’s trip to the Caribbean six years ago.
Narsingh Deonarine, another left-handed batsman, who was cut from the limited-overs squad, but had been chosen in the Test squad for England, has been included.
He was the leading scorer in the regional four-day competition this with 1,068 runs at 59.33, and last played an ODI two years ago.
Batsman Runako Morton, one of the leading batsmen in the regional competition, has also been retained after he replaced Richards in England, and Ravi Rampaul, who has been pigeon-holed as a specialist limited-overs bowler, has also been named.
The rest of the squad comprises players that have been involved in either recent limited-overs matches, or the Twenty20 World Cup.
Squad:Chris Gayle (captain), Denesh Ramdin (vice captain), Lionel Baker, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Sulieman Benn, David Bernard Jr, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Runako Morton, Ravi Rampaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor