Darren Bravo will “consider” touring New Zealand with the West Indies for the upcoming three-match T20 and two-match Test series from November 27 to December 15.
Bravo opted not to tour England for a three-match Test series in June/July due to covid19 safety concerns.
The Guyanese pair of Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul also chose not to make the trip.
In an interview with Newsday, on Wednesday, asked if he will consider touring New Zealand, Bravo said, “I haven’t been told anything about it personally just yet, so let’s see how things go.”
He added, “I will take it into consideration and make the best decision pertaining to that tour.”
Discussing Bravo’s decision earlier this year not to tour England, Cricket West Indies CEO Johnny Grave told espncricinfo, “Darren Bravo had concerns about his health and any consequences that it may have on his young family. He also mentioned he made his decision with great remorse as it was always a huge honour for him to play for West Indies. So, yes, perfectly valid reasons and the ones that we fully respect.”
The Windies batting was inconsistent during the England series without the experienced Bravo. Jermaine Blackwood was the lone batsman to score over 200 runs for the regional team in the series, which West Indies lost 2-1. The Jamaican right-hander cracked 211 runs at an average of 35.16.
In 54 Test matches, Bravo has scored 3,506 runs at an average of 37.69 with eight centuries and 17 fifties. His last Test match for West Indies was in September, 2019 against India.
Bravo said he was comfortable with the decision not to tour England.
Asked if he had any regrets opting not to tour England, Bravo said, “No not really. I did not have any regrets. I made a decision and I stand by that decision,” he told Newsday.
Bravo has been in prolific form of late, scoring 297 runs in the 2020 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 tournament which was enough to finish third on the scoring charts. The left-hander cracked three fifties and ended with an average of 59.40. His contributions were pivotal in guiding the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) to the title.
“I think personally it was a good tournament. As a team, we played tremendous cricket throughout. As a team, we had a particular goal that we wanted to achieve. (It was) not only winning the 12 games, but more so putting smiles on the faces of all Trinidadians, all our fans both here and basically across the world and by extension obviously India.”
TKR and Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders have the same owners, which includes Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan.
“We know exactly what it is taking place pertaining to the covid19, so we basically was not only playing for ourselves but it was a bigger picture and definitely this one goes beyond the boundary. I think it was a very, very good team effort and we definitely deserve to win.”
Bravo has only played 20 T20 internationals for West Indies. The 2021 T20 World Cup is a year away, but the left-hander is taking it one step at a time.
“To be honest I am not really looking so far ahead. As I always say we make plans and while we are planning God is laughing because we never know what’s ahead. For me, it is just taking one step at a time. (I am) starting back my training very, very soon and we will see how things go from there.” (Trinidad Newsday)
