Bravo salutes Guyanese cricket fans

By Avenash Ramzan

West Indies One-Day International ( ODI) captain Dwayne Bravo heaped praise on Guyanese fans following the conclusion of the first two ODIs against Pakistan on Tuesday, noting that “Guyanese love their cricket.”
A sold out crowd at the Guyana National Stadium on Sunday witnessed the West Indies go down to Pakistan by a massive margin of 126 runs, but an almost-capacity stadium cheered on the Caribbean lads on Tuesday as they rebounded to level the five-match series 1-1 with a 37-run win.
Speaking at a post-match press conference on Tuesday afternoon, allrounder Bravo acknowledged the support of the Guyanese cricket enthusiasts, who got a taste of international cricket for the first time in two years.
Biggest fan base
“I think throughout the Caribbean Guyana will be West Indies biggest fan base, and obviously after the first game they were very disappointed because we had a large turnout and we lost the game. When we were driving out [after the game on Sunday] there were some boos and some disrespectful words were said, but I think the fans really, really felt it and we as players understand the reason why they did that,” Bravo related.
The skipper pointed out that his players were well aware that it would take nothing less than a victory to reconnect with the fans after Sunday’s debacle, and they were determined to make amends in game two.
He said, “Now we came out today [Tuesday] and win this game, all the love is back with us again. We understand and we take all the criticisms when we lose and we don’t do well, but we know we’re just one win away to get back all the love again. Thanks to the Guyanese fans for coming out for both games. It was a full house and I think we couldn’t have done it without their support.”
A majestic all-round performance from Shahid Afridi, who blasted 76 off 55 balls and later bagged the second best ODI figures of all times, 7-12, powered Pakistan to victory in the opening game on Sunday; West Indies were then bundled out for an embarrassing 98 in pursuit of 225.
However, the roles were reversed on Tuesday as West Indies, led by Sunil Narine’s 4- 26, levelled the series after posting 232-8 before restricting Pakistan to 195.
Bravo said they were happy to bat first on Tuesday, as that was their plan upfront, regardless of the weather conditions.
They got their wish when Pakistan’s captain Misbah ul-Haq opted to bowl first upon winning the toss, probably with the aim of exploiting whatever moisture there was from an early morning shower.
“I wanted a change. I wanted to bat first so the batsmen can go in there and free themselves and bat without any scoreboard pressure, and I think the change of momentum actually worked for us,” Bravo pointed out.
“We loss Chris [Gayle] early but that innings that my younger brother [Darren Bravo] played with Johnson Charles I think laid the foundation for us. We know we bat very deep, we have a good lower-order batting line-up, but it was not a 260 wicket. Our aim was to try and get around 235, and we knew we have the bowling attack to shift the Pakistan team, and we knew the wicket would have played slower and lower as the game progressed. It was a total team effort; it took a lot of character and a lot of heart to bounce back after losing three games on the trot.”
Despite the victory, Bravo is keeping his feet grounded, adding that a tough three matches await them in St Lucia, the first of which bowls off on Friday.