West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo named his choice for the best player in the world in the shortest format of the game.
West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo hailed his teammate Andre Russell, calling him the 'best in the world' in the shortest format of the game.
In an interview with Trinidad-based radio station 1955 FM, Bravo talked about Russell and the dip in West Indies' performances in T20Is over the past few months. The Windies had lost the series against Afghanistan, India and drew the series against Ireland before making a strong comeback against Sri Lanka in T20Is.
"Prior to that [T20I series in Sri Lanka], we weren't really consistent as a team over the years in T20 cricket," Bravo said.
"With the 3-0 loss in the ODI series, we T20 guys had a chat among ourselves along with the management and made a pledge that we want to start back winning series. We said we wanted to be back being the most dominant team in the T20 format.
"We have produced some of the best players in the world and when we are together in the same team, we have to stamp our authority, and to get the cricketing world to respect West Indies cricket again and especially West Indies' T20 team. We said, 'All hands on deck, let's start with this Sri Lanka series and make sure we send the message.'"
Talking about Russell, Bravo insisted that he is the Chris Gayle and the Brian Lara of the T20I side at the moment.
"He's the best in the world," Bravo said of Russell. "It's the same I used to say of Chris Gayle when Chris Gayle was in his prime, [that] we are happy to have him representing us, we didn't have to come up and bowl against him in an international match. It's the same with Andre Russell. Andre Russell now is our Chris Gayle, is our Brian Lara, in the T20 format. He is the superstar."
