Bravo, who will turn 41 next month, had originally planned to retire after the end of CPL 2024, but a groin injury sustained while fielding against St Lucia Kings in Tarouba on Tuesday has now ended his CPL career before the playoffs.
Bravo hurt himself when he attempted to take the catch of Kings’ captain Faf du Plessis in the seventh over. He immediately left the field after pulling up and didn’t bowl a single over in what turned out to be his last CPL game. Bravo then returned to bat at No.11 in TKR’s failed chase of 219. He managed to face just one ball, which thudded into his thigh, and then retired hurt, struggling to fight off tears.
“When he pulled up [injured], it looked pretty serious,” TKR captain Kieron Pollard said after the game. “Obviously him coming to bat [at No.11] is not just to win the game, but to know the extent of the injury. We’re not sure if this is going to be the end for him but overall from the team perspective we just want to tell him thank you very much for all that he has done for cricket, for Trinidad & Tobago for the wider world. He’s been a charismatic person and has been inspiring throughout and just want to tell him thank you. He’s not in a good space right now but obviously he’s given everything that he has to cricket and cricket has rewarded him as well.”
TKR were also without Sunil Narine for the match against Kings, with the mystery spinner working his way back from a quad strain. It’s understood that Narine’s injury isn’t as serious as Bravo’s, and will return to action soon. As for Andre Russell, who had a hamstring complaint at the start of the tournament, his workload is being managed.
Russell pitched in with two overs on Tuesday and with both Bravo and Narine unavailable, Pollard brought himself into the attack and bowled his full complement of overs for the first time in the CPL since 2022.
“I had to take the mantle with DJ [Bravo] going down and Russell isn’t 100% fit,” Pollard said. “Narine is not playing because he’s not fit through injury. Obviously, I had to manage it and it’s good that you’re in a position where you have qualified [for the playoffs]. Yes, you wanna finish in the top two and you end up in the situation where you look around who can do the job for you going into the back end of the tournament. I haven’t been bowling much, but it was a good sort of shift for me today. But having said that from the bowling perspective looking at the last couple of games, we have some work to do.”
‘What a player, what a career, what a man!’ – Du Plessis pays tribute to Bravo
After Bravo retired hurt and hobbled off the field, du Plessis embraced him with a hug and later paid tribute to the CPL stalwart. Bravo is the most decorated player in the CPL, having won five titles in all, including three with TKR. He led TKR to back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018 before captaining St Kitts and Nevis Patriots to their first title in 2021.
Du Plessis had captained Bravo at Texas Super Kings in the USA’s Major League Cricket (MLC) and had also played alongside Bravo at Chennai Super Kings in the IPL.
“Sad to see DJ Bravo finishing in that way,” du Plessis said. “In my mind, he’s obviously someone that I’ve admired for a long time. Looks like it’s gonna be the end of his CPL. Just want to mention to him that what a player, what a career, what a man! The home people would be super proud with his cricket. He’s done so much for everyone around the Caribbean. I would have liked to give him a nice send-off walking off the field, clapping him off. But as I said I was just trying to stay alive [in the Tarouba heat] at the back end. But I feel he [Bravo] needs a special mention.”