DHAKA, Bangladesh – Dwayne Bravo will enter the ICC World T20 Tournament confident that he and his team-mates can defend their title. The livewire all-rounder was brilliant in the second official warm-up match on Wednesday against Sri Lanka.He made 43 off 31 balls with six boundaries as the world champions rattled up 172-5 off their 20 overs, with the innings being given a great start by opener Dwayne Smith with 60 (45 balls, 8×4, 2×6) and a boost at the end by skipper Darren Sammy with 30 not out (14 balls, 1×4, 2×6).

Bravo then returned with the impressive bowling figures of 3.4-0-29-3 as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 139 off 19.2 overs. Ace off-spinner Sunil Narine was again in top form with 4-0-24-4.
“We have come here to defend our title. We are not going to get too ahead of ourselves or get arrogant about it. But at the same time we are playing good cricket and as long as we continue to show good form we fancy our chance to defend it.”

He said the warm-ups wins over England and Sri Lanka were the right fillip as they prepared for the Super 10 stage. This is Bravo’s fifth time at the event and he stressed the importance of a winning start when they face India on Sunday at the Sher-e-Bangla.
“But it’s a lot of hard work, shorter tournament, different conditions,” he pointed out.
“But we look forward to the challenges and it’s nice to see Chris Gayle among the runs again and Dwayne Smith playing his part – giving us a great start at the top of the order. Everyone is chipping in … and really good to see Krishmar Santokie also playing a big role with the ball.”

West Indies start on Sunday against India at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. First ball is 19:30hrs (09:30hrs Eastern Caribbean Time/08:30hrs Jamaica Time). Bravo has a good track record against India in this format.

Back in the ICC World T20 2009 he had a fantastic match-winning performance at Lord’s. He took a career-best 4-38 and returned to make 66 not out off 36 balls to win the match and book a spot in the semi-finals.

For the upcoming tournament Bravo will be wearing jersey Number 3 rather than his familiar Number 47.
He explained: “I was blessed with the birth of my second child … Dwayne Bravo Jr, who was born on October 3. My first child – a beautiful daughter – was also born on the 3rd of August. My mom was born on the 3rd as well. I just decided that in this special tournament I am going to dedicate this Number 3 to them”