“It is a great feeling and I want to thank him very, very much”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

West Indies batsman Darren Bravo has praised his cousin, the legendary Brian Lara, for giving him a lot of advice prior to the start of the second Test against New Zealand in his hometown of Trinidad.

Bravo scored his first century in the Caribbean on day two and noted that it was all thanks to the tips Lara had given him.

“Before the start of the Test match, I had a good chat with my brother and before the start of the game, Lara came to give [Jermaine] Blackwood his cap and he had a 10-minute chat with me, gave me some sort of advice,” Bravo said. He just told me that it’s very important that I concentrate as much as possible. He had been looking at me bat for quite some time and he believed my concentration tended to lack a little bit. He told me that whenever I get past 30, my average tends to be in the high 70s and stuff. All he was trying to say was that whenever you get a start, it’s very important to carry on. I listen to him, whenever he gives me advice, I really look into the information deeply. It is a great feeling and I want to thank him very, very much.”

Bravo also admitted that it was very special to score a century in his hometown and in front of his family and friends.

“It’s something I had in the back of my mind before the start of the series That is probably the more special hundred, more so in front of your family. It was a great feeling,” he said. “I am happy that myself and Brathwaite, we were able to put the team in a good position. Hopefully, when we come tomorrow, the guys can capitalise on the start we got. I am keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well for West Indies tomorrow.”

Bravo added that he doesn’t have any problems when facing spinners.

“To be honest, I back myself against spin. I know exactly when the ball is in my area, I am able to execute my shots properly,” Bravo said. “I just back myself. I thought Kirk Edwards gave me that confidence that it’s easy to play through the line on that sort of wicket and I just went in and backed myself towards the spin.”

Meanwhile, Kraigg Brathwaite revealed that he was ecstatic to have scored his maiden Test century. Braithwaite made 129 runs off 258 balls, which included 13 boundaries, before he was caught and bowled by New Zealand pace bowler Trent Boult.

“We lost the first game, the batters didn’t do well. So obviously coming in as opener, my job was to just give it a foundation and then eventually go on and get a big score,” Brathwaite said. “The ball was doing a lot, especially early, I wanted to get through that period, as it becomes a lot easier, and stay positive all the time. In team meetings, we said we wanted to get 100-run partnerships and 50-run partnerships and we did it today.”