Dwayne Bravo to retire from CPL after 2024 season

Dwayne Bravo, the highest wicket-taker in T20 cricket, has announced that he will retire from the CPL after the ongoing season. Bravo, who will turn 41 in October, made the announcement public hours before Trinbago Knight Riders' opening game of CPL 2024, against St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in Basseterre.

"It's been a great journey. This season will be my last one and I'm looking forward to a playing my final professional tournament in front of my Caribbean ppl," Bravo posted on Instagram. "TKR is the place where everything started for me and will end with my team."

Bravo is also the highest wicket-taker in the CPL currently, with 128 strikes in 103 games at an average of 22.40 and economy rate of 8.69.

Bravo's CPL retirement comes almost three years after he ended his T20I career following West Indies' early exit at the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE. Then in 2023, Bravo retired from the IPL, and has served as Chennai Super Kings' bowling coach since in the league.

At the CPL, Bravo is the most decorated player, having won five titles in all, including three with TKR alone. Bravo is hoping to end his CPL career with his fourth title with them.

He had led TKR to back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018 before captaining Patriots to their first title in 2021.

In 2020, Bravo was part of the TKR title-winning side as a player. During that season, he became the first player to 500 T20 wickets as TKR enjoyed an unbeaten run to the title amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ahead of CPL 2021, Bravo moved to Patriots for a new challenge and ended up winning his first - and only - CPL title for a non-Trinidad franchise. It was a comprehensive turnaround from 2020, when Patriots had finished at the bottom.

Pete Russell, CEO of the CPL, paid tribute to Bravo. "We are so grateful that Dwayne has been a part of our tournament since its inception in 2013 and his contribution to making the league what it is today is immeasurable," he said in a statement. "The CPL has become known around the world as the biggest party in sport and Dwayne's enthusiasm and amazing personality has done as much as anyone to bring that to life. We are certain that 'Sir Champion' will continue to play a massive role in T20 cricket going forward and we wish him all the best in the next chapter."

In a number of T20 leagues around the world, especially at the CPL, Bravo has been harnessing his experience to nurture youngsters, settling into a role like MS Dhoni has been fulfilling for Chennai Super Kings for a while. During CPL 2021, for example, he took allrounder Dominic Drakes under his wing and helped transform him into a match-winner. Drakes came away with the Player-of-the-Match award in the CPL 2021 final and continued to work with Bravo in other leagues, including IPL (Chennai Super Kings) and T10 (Delhi Bulls).

Bravo has also worked closely with Ali Khan, the USA fast bowler, who also often fronts up to bowl at the death for TKR. Bravo had first spotted Khan in the US Open T20 tournament and signed him on for the Winnipeg Hawks in the Global T20 Canada, before recommending him to TKR.

Coach Simon Helmot, who was earlier part of the leadership group at both Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel and Patriots, delivered a glowing appraisal of Bravo's captaincy during an interview with ESPNcricinfo in 2021.

"In 2021 [at St Kitts & Nevis Patriots], I saw a difference again from 2014-16. He wasn't just the captain, he was the ultimate leader," Helmot had said at the time. "He's invested in our staff and players, he's invested in our ownership and the entire organisation. Maybe that's with him being involved with CSK and their strong organisation. But I've seen this guy grow around 15 years now from being a quality captain, player, and now the whole gamut.

"Game intelligence and game starts in T20 cricket is crucial. Yes, T20 can be known as a young person's game, but it's also for the person of experience - one who can problem-solve and work out situations, not just for themselves but also for team-mates around."

Then, ahead of CPL 2023, Bravo returned to TKR and formed a fearsome core along with his good friend Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and Nicholas Pooran. They progressed to the final where they lost to Imran Tahir's Guyana Amazon Warriors.

While CPL 2024 will be his last tournament on home soil, Bravo will be in action in other franchise competitions around the world. He is currently contracted to MI Emirates, who have retained him ahead of the third season of ILT20 in the UAE. He is set to reunite with Pollard and Pooran in the Emirates. Last month, Bravo had also turned out for Texas Super Kings in the Major League Cricket (MLC) in the USA.