Dwayne Bravo

The swashbuckling 31-year-old was in fine form for the Windies during their recent tour of Sri Lanka, picking up man-of-the-series honours in a 2-0 win over the home team.  In fact, with a T20 strike rate of 171.29, the signature of Russell has become one of the most coveted on contracts all over the globe.  His development has impressed the Trinidadian all-rounder, who knows a thing or two about high-quality performances himself.

“It’s the same thing I used to say about Chris Gayle, we are happy to have someone like Gayle representing us, we don’t have to come up and bowl against him in an international match. I think it’s the same with Andre Russell. Andre Russell now is our Chris Gayle, is our Brian Lara in the T20 format. He is a superstar, he’s the best player and we are happy,” Bravo told local Trinidad-based radio station I955 FM.

“He’s the best in the world and we’re happy to have him in our team.”

Russell has claimed a number of titles with various franchises, including five in eight months in 2016.  He was named in the team of the tournament at the T20 World Cup that same year.

The much-travelled 36-year-old T20 specialist made history earlier this week after capturing his 500^th wicket in the format while competing in the Caribbean Premier League for Trinbago Knight Riders.  As far as the CPL goes, the historic achievement marked his 100^th in the competition.

In 12-years, Bravo has played for numerous T20 franchises around the world, including playing a major role in two T20 World Cup titles for the West Indies.  Though not quite at the absolute top of his game these days, he remains an impact player for any team he represents.  With pressure often placed on players to retire, once they approach 40, Bravo has insisted he feels in great shape.

”Anyone who challenges or questions our age – I don’t think anyone of us, our performance has dipped or dropped because of our age,” Bravo recently told EspnCricinfo.

“As a matter of fact, most of us even perform just as good or even better. Age is just a number. Don’t judge a player by his age but judge him by his performance and his ability to continue to play.”

The likes of Chris Gayle, Shoaib Malik, Imran Tahir, and Bravo have all defied age, performing brilliantly for their franchises all over the world.

Batting first, Fortune Barishul made 129-8 thanks mainly to 36 from Chris Gayle and 33 from Dwayne Bravo. Shakib al Hasan contributed 23. Russell was the best of the bowlers picking up 2-27 from his four overs while Isuru Udana took 2-29.

Needing 130 for victory, MGD seemed destined for their third straight defeat after losing four wickets for 10 runs inside three overs as Alzarri Joseph 2-30 and Shafiqul Islam tore through the top order.

Captain Mahmudullah and Shuvagata Hom brought the chase back on track with a fifth-wicket stand of 69 that was broken by Bravo who dismissed Hom for 29.

Mahmudullah and Russell then posted 50 in 31 balls with Russell racing to his unbeaten 31 from just 15 balls with three fours and two sixes. Shakib broke the partnership when he dismissed Mahmudullah for 47 with the scores level.

Udana took a single from the first ball he faced to seal the victory.

The win means MGD are fifth in the standings with their first two points.

Chattogram Challengers leads the standings with four points having won two of their first three games.

But despite Narine’s heroics, fine catching and canny bowling from last year’s beaten finalists meant the Bravo brothers had to hold their nerve right to the end to see the Knight Riders home.

Pollard’s decisions to bowl first in a match shortened by rain to 17 overs each, and to entrust Ali Khan with the first over, were each vindicated almost immediately when last year’s Hero CPL top scorer, Brandon King, sliced to point for a duck.

 Chandrapaul Hemraj chipped a return catch to Narine, and the Knight Riders spinners were bowling so well that at one point Pollard even brought himself in at short leg. It wasn’t until Ross Taylor brought out his signature slog-sweep at the end of the seventh over that we saw the tournament’s first Hero Maximum.

The Kiwi veteran showed his strength off his legs, picking up West Indies U-19 star Jayden Seales for another six, but an edge past slip off the young fast bowler and one that Pollard couldn’t hold at slip off Fawad Ahmed studded a stand of 50 for the third wicket.

Narine skidded one past Taylor to end the partnership with Hetmyer, but Nicholas Pooran started in purposeful fashion with a reverse sweep for four. The two West Indies internationals were content to see off Narine, and with the Amazon Warriors entering the last 5 overs well-placed at 89 for 3, a huge straight six from Pooran saw them take 16 off DJ Bravo’s second over.

Hetmyer wasn’t fazed by the loss of Pooran, launching Seales for a Hero Maximum into the stands to bring up his fourth career Hero CPL fifty off just 38 balls.  Rutherford holed out trying to repeat the dose off Bravo, but Hetmyer and his fellow Guyanese, Keemo Paul, scrambled 7 off a good penultimate over by Ali and then smashed Bravo for 15 off the last to set the Knight Riders a tricky 145.

The Amazon Warriors started magnificently with the ball, with Afghan pace sensation Naveen-ul-Haq, new captain Chris Green and Romario Shepherd combining to keep Knight Riders’ openers Narine and Lendl Simmons to just 9 off the first 3 overs. Simmons swung and missed at four Shepherd slower balls in a row, and while he broke the shackles a little with back-to-back fours off Green it was no surprise when he became Naveen’s first-ever Hero CPL wicket, spooning a slower ball to the infield and departing for a sluggish 17.

The Knight Riders began to find their feet after the Guardian Life Powerplay, with Narine hitting Green over midwicket and Munro hitting the same bowler clean out of the ground. But Shepherd came back and dismissed the prolific Kiwi for 17, with the aid of a superb diving catch by King. It was a fine comeback after Munro had carved a four and scooped a six off his previous two balls.

Paul kept the ball out of Narine’s reach, sometimes literally, with his first over going for just six, but the pinch-hitter extraordinaire broke free, with even Imran Tahir going for back to back boundaries to take the Knight Riders into the Angostura LLB drinks break at 81 for 2 needing 64 off the last 48 balls.

Narine continued his assault, launching consecutive Hero Maximums to bring the required run rate down to just seven an over, but finally holed out off Tahir just after simultaneously being dropped and bringing up his 50 off a remarkable 27 balls. The veteran South African eschewed his trademark celebration in favour of taking the knee and raising a fist in honour of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Narine’s aggression meant Darren Bravo could play himself in, and when Pollard signalled his intentions by launching Tahir back over his head it looked a simple chase for the hometowners. But late drama saw the skipper and Tim Seifert both caught by King, the second a diving Republic Bank Classic to go with the Munro grab, and the younger Bravo brother’s penultimate over Hero Maximum was vital in keeping the equation on the Knight Riders’ side.

He couldn’t quite see his team home, falling to the impressive Naveen who was entrusted to close the innings as he’d opened it, but older brother Dwayne held his nerve, and the hometown boys are on the board early.

The Zouks started aggressively - Andre Fletcher lofted Ali Khan for a Hero Maximum but fell next ball, Pierre taking a fine catch at third man. The fit-again Rakheem Cornwall was unfazed and hit the ball after Fletcher’s dismissal for six, and the Zouks flew to 32/1 after three overs.

But then Cornwall drove aerially, Munro took a good catch, and on his home ground, Bravo became the founding member of T20 cricket’s 500 Club. He soon made it 501 - a portentous number on a ground with a pavilion named for Brian Lara - by yorking Roston Chase, and after a strong start, the Zouks had stuttered to 43/3 off the Powerplay.

Pollard went with Fawad Ahmed and himself after the Powerplay to keep the pressure on. They did so with aplomb, conceding only 15 runs in four overs and not giving up a single boundary. At halfway, the Zouks were 58/3 and hadn’t found the fence for 32 balls.

48-year-old Pravin Tambe, the first Indian to play the Hero CPL, only got one over, but it was an eventful one. Najibullah Zadran hit a Hero Maximum and a four, but Tambe had the last laugh. Najibullah misread the googly and gave Pollard a simple catch at cover, and Tambe had his own little moment of history.

Mohammad Nabi was busy, cutting Pollard for four, but with Mark Deyal scratchy, Fawad’s over went for just four and Pollard finished his spell tightly, leaving the Zouks searching for rhythm at 93/4 off 14 overs.

Nabi tried to provide it, sweeping Fawad for four and launching him for a Hero Maximum, but Fawad finished strong by ending Deyal’s struggles. Zouks captain Daren Sammy decided the situation called for himself, but Pierre returned with another good over and the Zouks entered the last four overs at 109/5.

Sammy had a few lusty swings but missed them all, and was eventually trapped LBW by Pierre. That was the last action before the rain came, and one wonders how many runs Nabi being starved of the strike took off the Knight Riders’ adjusted target.

Nabi sparked hope with the ball, trapping Lendl Simmons LBW for a second-ball duck. Munro though was positive, sweeping for four then a Hero Maximum to get the Knight Riders up and running. Scott Kuggeleijn didn’t help matters for the Zouks, firing down five wides in an over that went for 11.

Kesrick Williams was on the money, as both Munro and emergency opener Tion Webster found long-on to leave the Knight Riders three down and with Pollard and Darren Bravo yet to face a ball.

Pollard though didn’t last long - he got off the mark with a classy flick for four off Chemar Holder, but the young Bajan responded with one that jagged back off the seam to take an inside edge that was very well caught by Fletcher. After four overs, the Knight Riders needed 35 off 30 balls but were four down.

Nabi returned, but Bravo and Tim Seifert managed five singles off him to keep the Knight Riders ahead of the DLS par. Seifert had only faced three balls in the whole tournament before today but was busy and inventive. A flick over his shoulder off Kuggeleijn raced for four, and the Knight Riders needed 22 off the last three overs.

Darren Bravo brought up a milestone of his own off Williams, his 100th Hero CPL six, to reduce the equation to a run a ball. Holder was excellent at the death in the Zouks’ own DLS victory against the Guyana Amazon Warriors and was trusted with the penultimate over here, but Bravo hammered Hero Maximum no.101 to make victory a formality. Seifert drove for four to finish it with an over to spare and send the Knight Riders clear at the top of the table.

Summary: (Trinbago Knight Riders 75/4 (DM Bravo 23*, Seifert 18*, Munro 17; Williams 2/17, Nabi 1/15, C Holder 1/24) beat St Lucia Zouks 111/6 (Nabi 30*, Najibullah 21, Cornwall 18; DJ Bravo 2/7, Tambe 1/15, Pierre 1/19, Fawad 1/21) by 6 wickets (DLS target 72 off 9 overs)

 Upcoming Fixture: Wednesday 26 August - Match 14: Barbados Tridents v Jamaica Tallawahs (5:30 pm), Queen’s Park Oval

Worcestershire posted a formidable 178-6 from their 20 overs after being sent in by Lancashire.

Opener Brett D’Oliveira (33) along with captain and England all-rounder Moeen Ali (31) were the main scorers while Kashif Ali (27) and New Zealander Colin Munro (26) also made valuable contributions.

Bravo, batting at number eight, played a decent cameo of 10 not out from five balls including one six.

Leg-spinner Luke Wells led the way with the ball for Lancashire with 2-26 from his four overs.

Lancashire’s reply can only be described as top-heavy as openers Phil Salt (44) and newly appointed England white ball captain Jos Buttler (42) were the only batsmen to pass 20 as they were dismissed for just 149 in 19.3 overs.

D’Oliveira capped off a fine all-round display with 4-20 from his four overs of leg-spin while Pat Brown and Moeen Ali took two wickets each.

Bravo, the leading wicket-taker in T20 history with 594 in 540 matches, added another to his tally with 1-26 from 3.3 overs.

Worcestershire remain at the bottom of the North Group with two wins, 10 losses, and one no-result from 13 games while Lancashire stay second with seven wins, four losses, and one no-result.

The specialist death bowler sustained the latest setback, a groin injury, in action against the Delhi Capitals on Saturday.  Bravo was as a result unable to bowl the final over for the team, which in the end saw CSK lose by 5 wickets with one ball to spare.  As of now, it is unknown how long the player will be out of action.

"He seems to have a right groin injury, I think, and it was obviously serious enough to keep him off the field," CSK head coach Stephen Fleming explained at the post-match press conference.

"He's obviously desperately disappointed that he couldn't bowl the last over - that's what he's pretty much in the team for. He will have to be reassessed going forward, but at this stage, you'd imagine it's going to take a few days or a couple of weeks, but we will assess that tomorrow."

Bravo had arrived for IPL duty in the UAE with an entirely different injury, a knee problem sustained during this season’s CPL.  He missed the Super Kings' first three games, as the team had decided to take extra caution.

Since his re-introduction, however, the player has made an impact, impressing with his yorkers and slower variations in the Super Kings' return fixture against the Sunrisers and the Kolkata Knight Riders and providing more depth to both the bowling attack

The Knight Riders bowled first against the Zouks, who had gotten a good start despite losing Andre Fletcher early. It was just the third over, but already the Zouks had raced to 32 when Bravo was asked to bowl in the Powerplay.

His first three deliveries were dot balls, a yorker on middle stump, and two low full tosses at different paces. Then with his fourth delivery, he bowled back of a length. Cornwall took the bait, driving through cover only to be well caught by Colin Munro.

But before Bravo really celebrated his achievement, he had to refocus and get back to it, taking his 501^st wicket in a series of three overs that accounted for just seven.

Rain would interrupt the game in the 18^th over with the Zouks 111-6. Duckworth/Lewis’ intervention meant the Knight Riders would have to chase 72 from nine overs. The former champions would end on 74-2 in eight overs.

“It’s a great result for us, we really wanted to win this game. It is very important for us to keep winning cricket games,” said Bravo.

“Every time we and St Lucia play it is a rain-affected game but I am very very happy for the result,” he said.

With the win out of the way, Bravo could celebrate the personal milestone in a more real way.

“I guess I gotta say congratulations to myself are in order. It’s a great feeling. I’ve already gotten a lot of messages from a lot of people. It’s been a great journey so far,” said Bravo.

Bravo also thanked his teammates all around the world, saying achieving 500 wickets would not have been possible without them.

The Queen’s Park Oval, where the match was played, is the home of Bravo’s boyhood cricket club, Queen’s Park Cricket Club. Taking his 500^th wicket at the venue was not lost on the all-rounder.

“This is where I started playing cricket. At age eight is where it all started for me and I couldn’t be a more happy person to have gotten this here at the Queen’s Park Oval,” he said.

But Bravo isn’t dwelling on the achievement, he wants to keep going for as long as possible.

“I want to stay as fit as possible for as long as possible. Continue to build and keep taking wickets for whatever team I play for and enjoy the game. That is the most important thing for me,” he said.

The Freedom first posted 163-5 from their 20 overs after winning the toss.

Australian opener, Matthew Short, did the bulk of the scoring for Washington with a 50-ball 80 including 10 fours and three sixes.

He was supported by hic countryman and Freedom Captain, Moises Henriques, who hit 21 and Mukhtar Ahmed who scored 20.

South African quick, Gerald Coetzee, took 2-26 from his four overs for the Super Kings.

Texas, in their chase, were reeling at 78-6 at one point before Bravo gave them a glimmer of hope with some fireworks.

The 39-year-old hit five fours and six sixes in his innings that took just 39 balls.

In the end, they fell agonizingly short of their target at 157-8 after 20 overs.

Akeal Hosein took 2-25 off his four overs for the Freedom while Marco Jansen took 2-31 from his four.

Afghanistan have already arrived in St Kitts and Nevis and are expected to begin a ten-day preparatory camp, during which Bravo will join the team.

Bravo, part of the two-time T20 World Cup-winning West Indies side, retired from international cricket after the 2021 T20 World Cup but continues to play in T20 leagues around the world.

Earlier this year, he featured for eventual champions MI Emirates in the IL T20. He is currently the leading wicket-taker in T20 cricket with 625 wickets in 573 games.

Bravo is also the bowling coach of five-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings, a position he took over after retiring from the IPL in December 2022.

Afghanistan play their first warm-up game against Oman on May 29 followed by the second one on May 31 against Scotland.

At the World Cup, Afghanistan are placed in Group C alongside West Indies, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Uganda. They start their campaign against Uganda on June 5 in Providence.

Pollard had big shoes to fill, as Bravo had led the TKR to back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018.

The big West Indies captain, the most experienced T20 player in the history of the format, lost to eventual champions Barbados Tridents in the second qualifier for the competition’s final in 2019.

Still, he has retained his position as skipper in the team and has the blessing of his predecessor.

CEO of the TKR, Venky Mysore, revealed recently that Bravo, though very successful as captain of the team, had, for a long time, wanted to pass the baton, but he had delayed the action.

"The champion DJ Bravo has been coming to me year after year and asking me to give someone else the captaincy because he wants to just concentrate on playing and enjoying the game,” said Mysore.

Bravo, who recently came out of international retirement, has also played under Pollard for the West Indies and has lauded his approach to captaincy.

“I always told him not until I am ready and that time has come and he is very happy to play under Pollard,” said Mysore.

The TKR will open the CPL season against last year’s beaten finalists, the Guyana Amazon Warriors on August 18.

“Pollard was kind enough to accept the position to lead the team at the tournament. He said if we wanted him to do it he will and we said that we will be delighted to have him as captain again,” said Mysore.

West Indies T20 specialist and former captain of the One-Day International team, Dwayne Bravo had some interesting choices to make during an interview on Cricbuzz, leaving out some big names on a list of five of the best T20 players in the game today.

"I'm looking forward to this new journey because it's something I see myself doing after my playing days is fully over," Bravo, 39, said in a franchise statement on Friday.

"I enjoy working with bowlers, and it's a role I'm excited about. From player to coach, I don't think I have to adjust much, because while I'm playing, I always work with bowlers and try to come up with plans and ideas on how to have that one step ahead of the batsmen.

"The only difference is I will no longer be standing at mid-on or mid-off! I never thought I would be the leading wicket taker in the history of IPL. But I'm just happy to be a part of IPL history!"

Bravo has played the IPL every year since it started in 2008 except in 2017, when an injury prevented him from turning out for Gujarat Lions. He had first been signed up by Mumbai Indians in 2008, and was with the team for three seasons before being bought by Super Kings at the 2011 auction. When Super Kings were suspended for two seasons - 2016 and 2017 - Bravo was picked by Lions, before being retained by Super Kings in 2018.

He finished with 183 wickets, the highest wicket-taker after 15 seasons of IPL, 13 more than the second-placed Lasith Malinga, and 17 more than the next active bowler with the most success: Yuzvendra Chahal. Bravo's wickets came at an economy rate of 8.38 over 158 innings in 161 games, with a best of 4 for 22. He also scored 1560 runs at a strike rate of 129.57.

One of the great death bowlers in the T20 game, Bravo bowled 1115 balls [36% of all his deliveries] between overs 17 and 20 and took 102 wickets in the phase. No-one else has bowled as many deliveries in the last four overs (Jasprit Bumrah is next with 1026) or taken as many wickets (Lasith Malinga is second on 90).

A part of West Indies' golden generation of T20 superstars, which won the T20 World Cup in 2012 and 2016, Bravo joins his long-time international team-mate into IPL retirement, while getting into coaching roles with their teams. Pollard announced his retirement as a player on November 15, and has joined Mumbai Indians, the team he was with throughout his career in the IPL, as a batting coach.

Like Pollard, Bravo hasn't quit as a player altogether. He is currently playing in the Abu Dhabi T10 with Delhi Bulls and has also been signed up by MI Emirates for the inaugural ILT20 in the UAE next year, where Pollard will be his captain. He was one of eight players Super Kings released by the retention deadline last month. At the time, though, it seemed like they might buy him back at the next auction, scheduled for December 23, as they had in 2021.

With Super Kings, the team he became an integral part of - synonymous almost - over the years, Bravo played 144 matches, picking up 168 wickets and scoring 1556 runs. He was involved in three of their four IPL triumphs - in 2011, 2018 and 2021; the only one he missed was in 2010, when he was still with Mumbai. While with Super Kings, he won the Purple Cap for the most wickets in 2013 (32 wickets) and 2015 (26 wickets). He remains one of two players - Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the other - to win the Purple Cap on two occasions.

"He has been a crucial member of the Super Kings family for more than a decade, and we are excited to continue the association," Kasi Viswanathan, the Super Kings chief executive, said. "Bravo's vast experience will be of immense value to our players and support staff. We are confident that our bowling group will thrive under his guidance."

RCB slumped to a nine-wicket loss at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders after they were bowled out for only 92 on Monday in their first game since the tournament resumed.

They looked set to post an imposing total at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday after Devdutt Padikkal (70 off 50 balls) and captain Virat Kohli (53 from 41) put on 111 for the first wicket, but could only finish with 156-6.

Bravo (3-24) and Shardul Thakur (2-29) put the brakes on as Kohli's third-placed side lost their way after the start had been delayed due to a sandstorm.

An opening stand of 71 from 8.2 overs between the in-form Gaikwad (38 off 26) and Faf du Plessis (31 from 26) set CSK on their way to a seventh win in nine matches.

Ambati Rayudu (32) and Moeen Ali (23) also chipped in before vastly experienced duo Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni got the Super Kings home with 11 balls to spare, moving them above Delhi Capitals on net run-rate.

OPENERS LAY RCB FOUNDATIONS

The dangerous Padikkal and Kohli got RCB off to a great start after they were put in by MS Dhoni, taking 55 off the powerplay.

Padikkal was the first to raise his bat, bringing up his sixth IPL half-century by dispatching Deepak Chahar for four, and Kohli struck Ravindra Jadeja to the boundary to reach his fifty soon after.

RCB lost their way after Kohli was removed by Bravo in the 14th over, with Padikkal - who struck three sixes - falling straight after Shardul Thakur got rid of AB de Villiers in the South Africa legend's 150th match for just 12.

GAIKWAD IN GREAT NICK

Gaikwad made a brilliant unbeaten 88 in CSK's victory over defending champions Mumbai Indians and the opener maintained his form five days later.

The 24-year-old and Du Plessis got the Super Kings ahead of the rate in a great start to the run chase, the South Africa batsman clearing the ropes twice and Gaikwad hitting one six.

Both batsman fell in consecutive overs, but CSK kept wickets in hand and stayed ahead of the rate, with Raina and Dhoni finished off the job.

CSK won the toss and elected to bat and must have been regretting that decision after they got off to a disastrous start slumping to 24-4 by the end of the Powerplay as Trent Boult and Adam Milne wreaked havoc on their top order.

In dire straits, Chennai owed their recovery to 156-6 to Man-of-the-Match Putara Gaikwad, who scored an unbeaten 88 from 58 balls. Gaikwad hit nine fours and four sixes as he successfully balanced prudence with aggression while stitching together a critical fifth-wicket partnership of 81 with Ravindra Jadeja.

Jadeja faced 33 balls before Jasprit Bumrah had him caught by Kieron Pollard for 26.

Gaikward and Bravo, who was playing his 100th match for CSK, put up an additional 39 for the sixth wicket with the latter scoring 23 off just eight balls. Bravo, who last week led St Kitts and Nevis Patriots to their first Hero CPL title, hit three sixes before he became Bumrah’s second victim going for another big hit over cover.

Bumrah returned figures of 2-33, while Milne and Boult, who did the early damage, ended with figures of 2-21 and 2-35, respectively.

Chasing 157 for victory, Bravo took 3-23 to restrict Mumbai to 136-8, despite an unbeaten even 50 from Saurabh Tiwary.

Two wickets from Deepak Chahar had Mumbai in early trouble at 37-3 inside six overs.

Tiwary tried to keep the innings together but Mumbai lost wickets regularly mainly via Bravo’s intervention. The veteran Trinidadian was also instrumental in running out the dangerous Krunal Pandya for four that had the defending champions in trouble at 94-6.

Bravo then took the wickets of Milne for 15 and Chahar for a duck to seal the victory.

The Emirates first posted 180-4 from their 20 overs after the Knight Riders won the toss and elected to field first.

The UAE’s Muhammad Waseem top scored with a 43-ball 60 including one four and six sixes while captain Kieron Pollard continued his excellent form throughout the season with 43 off just 17 deliveries including four fours and three sixes.

The Knight Riders reply fell short by 18 runs despite a top score of 42 from 22 balls from Andre Russell. His knock included five fours and two sixes.

Dwayne Bravo took 3-37 from his four overs while Imran Tahir and Zahoor Khan took two wickets each.

The Emirates have now booked a spot in the playoffs with a game to spare in the league phase.

Scores: MI Emirates 180-4 off 20 overs (Muhammad Waseem 60, Kieron Pollard 43) Abu Dhabi Knight Riders 162 off 19.2 overs (Andre Russell 42, Joe Clarke 22, Dwayne Bravo 3-37, Imran Tahir 2-20, Zahoor Khan 2-33).

The 38-year-old Trinidadian all-rounder retired from international cricket after the ICC World Cup but still has an appetite for T20 league cricket.

"When Moeen (Ali) mentioned the possibility of me coming over for the Blast whilst we were both at BPL, it was an opportunity I wanted to seriously look at," Bravo said. “It’s great that it has all come together. The Vitality Blast is one of the domestic T20 titles that I am yet to win and I will be working hard to help the team achieve success.”

Moeen is the captain of Worcestershire Rapids and will play alongside Bravo for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL before heading to England for the Vitality Blast in the summer.

It is expected that Bravo will play at least 10 group matches, quarter-finals and finals for the Rapids but that is dependent on how far CSK advances in the IPL this coming season. 

Worcestershire Cricket Steering Group Chairman, Paul Pridgeon expressed his joy at having Bravo join the team along with their other overseas signing Colin Munro.

“To put Dwayne Bravo and Colin Munro in the mix with the players we already have in the squad is excellent news. Dwayne is a superb ‘death’ bowler and hard-hitting middle-order batsman and has enormous experience from playing for his country and in T20 cricket worldwide,” Pridgeon said.

“Moeen (Ali) has been playing in the Bangladesh Premier League with Dwayne Bravo this winter, has been talking to him and said ‘come and play for us’ – and he agreed.”

Bravo is the leading wicket-taker in T20 cricket globally and is the first bowler to take over 500 wickets in T20 cricket.

The Patriots have brought in two players from other franchises. They have signed Dwayne Bravo from Trinbago Knight Riders in a trade deal that saw Denesh Ramdin go the other way. They have also signed Sherfane Rutherford from Guyana Amazon Warriors.

In addition to these two signings, they have retained Evin Lewis, Fabian Allen, Sheldon Cottrell, Jon Russ Jaggesar and Rayad Emrit.

Exciting young prospects Joshua da Silva and Dominic Drakes round out the retentions.

The Patriots have eight spots to fill to complete their squad and these will be announced in the coming weeks.

“The St Kitts and Nevis Franchise extends a warm welcome to the new players joining us this year as well as to our retained core team for yet another exciting season of the Hero CPL. This year makes it extra special with us playing at our home – Warner Park. I would like to thank all our team players, support staff and management as well as our global fan base for their continued love and support. I look forward to an amazing season in 2021,” said Patriots owner Mahesh Ramani.

The retained players are Dwayne Bravo, Evin Lewis, Fabian Allen, Sherfane Rutherford, Sheldon Cottrell, Rayad Emrit.

The New Zealand skipper scored just 216 runs from 13 innings at an average of 19.64 in the IPL this year.

Sunrisers on Tuesday announced that Williamson has not been retained by the franchise, who finished eighth last season.

Nicholas Pooran and Sean Abbott are among the other players who have not been kept on by Hyderabad.

It was also the end of an era for Mumbai Indians, with Kieron Pollard calling time on his IPL playing days and taking over as the franchise's batting coach.

Kolkata Knight Riders will have to do without Pat Cummins, Alex Hales and Sam Billings after the overseas trio opted out of the 2023 tournament.

Dwayne Bravo and Chris Jordan were among the players on the Chennai Super Kings' list of released players, while Jason Holder will not feature for Lucknow Super Giants.

Black Caps duo Daryl Mitchell and Jimmy Neesham will not return to Rajasthan Royals, while the same goes for South Africa batter Rassie Van Der Dussen.

While Pooran, Pollard, who announced his IPL retirement earlier on Tuesday, and Super Kings' Dwayne Bravo were the most high-profile West Indians not retained, there were several other younger players from the Caribbean who were released by their teams.

Along with Pooran, Sunrisers Hyderabad let go of Romario Shepherd, Lucknow Super Giants released Jason Holder and Evin Lewis, Mumbai released Fabian Allen, Royal Challengers Bangalore let go of Sherfane Rutherford, Punjab released Odean Smith and Gujarat Titans did not retain Dominic Drakes.

On the flip side, several West Indians were retained by their franchises.

Obed McCoy and Shimron Hetmyer were retained by the Rajasthan Royals, Alzarri Joseph was retained by defending champions the Gujarat Titans, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine will once again suit up for the Kolkata Knight Riders, Kyle Mayers was retained by Lucknow Super Giants and Rovman Powell was retained by the Delhi Capitals.

The released players will get their chance to be snapped up by another franchise at the IPL player auction which will be held on December 23 in Kochi.