Local cricket fans have been greeted with good news, as Red Steel captain Dwayne Bravo is fit and will take his place on the local franchise in the opening Caribbean Premier League (CPL) match for them against the Barbados Tridents in Grenada on Saturday.Bravo has been out of action since the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) earlier this year when he injured his shoulder and could not play for the Chennai Super Kings.He returned home and was well on his way to resuming his Test career when he suffered a hamstring injury, which has had him sidelined since.
However, with great determination to lead his team in the 2014 CPL, the all-rounder has been working very hard on regaining his fitness and is now at a state where he can resume playing. Speaking to the T&T Guardian yesterday, Bravo said: "Earlier in the week when I played, I got a lot of pain the following day, however, when I played last night, I felt good and am nowconfident that I can take my place on the team for the opener."It has been a work in progress in terms of getting myself fit in time for the matches and the more I play, the better I will get. I will just require to bowl four overs in each match so it would not be that strenuous. Last night I batted for about ten overs and I felt good with the bat in my hand."
The Red Steel has their full team assembled in Trinidad at the moment and Bravo is very happy with the form of his foreign imports."The foreign guys are going to be key for us in this tournament and in terms of preparations they are in good shape. Ross Taylor has been involved in the series against the West Indies, while Kevin O'Brien has been playing in England and showing good form. Nasir Jamshed has been knocking up in the nets and he is looking good."The T&T Red Steel was knocked out at the semi-final stage of the inaugural tournament last year by the Guyana Amazon Warriors.