Andre Russell is so good in T20 cricket that Dwayne Bravo found it fit to put him on the level of "our Chris Gayle, Brian Lara" in terms of quality and importance to West Indies.
Russell, a tremendous power-hitter in the shortest format, just recently returned to the international arena in Sri Lanka where he dominated the bowling in West Indies' 2-0 T20I series win. The 31-year-old absolutely pulverised the opposition attack in Pallekele for scores of 35 and 40 at a jaw-dropping strike-rate of 267.86.
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"He's the best in the world," ESPNcricinfo quoted Russell's teammate Bravo as saying. "It's the same I used to say of Chris Gayle when Chris Gayle was in his prime - we are happy to have him representing us, we didn't have to come up and bowl against him in an international match. It's the same with Andre Russell. Andre Russell now is our Chris Gayle, is our Brian Lara, in the T20 format. He is the superstar."
Russell's form must've pleased the team management, including skipper Kieron Pollard and head coach Phil Simmons as they look to fine-tune preparations towards the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year, a title Bravo is confident that West Indies can lift given the depth of talent available in the squad.
"Prior to that [T20I series in Sri Lanka], we weren't really consistent as a team over the years in T20 cricket," he said, pointing towards the defending champions' poor returns since claiming the crown in India four years back. "With the 3-0 loss in the ODI series, we T20 guys had a chat among ourselves along with the management and made a pledge that we want to start back winning series. We said we wanted to be back being the most dominant team in the T20 format."
"We have produced some of the best players in the world and when we are together in the same team, we have to stamp our authority, and to get the cricketing world to respect West Indies cricket again and especially West Indies' T20 team. We said, 'All hands on deck, let's start with this Sri Lanka series and make sure we send the message.' Yeah, that's what we did."
West Indies' batting depth is such that even someone as experienced and capable as Bravo had to bat out of position in Sri Lanka. "When the coach wrote the batting line-up, I was down to bat at number nine. I said to the guys, 'This is the first time I've ever been in a T20 team and I'm down to bat at number nine'," he said.
"Putting all egos aside, I'm happy with that because at the end of the day, I accept the fact guys like Rovman Powell and Fabian Allen and [Shimron] Hetmyer, the talent and the ability they have to hit the ball, I'm just happy to be like that - father-figure, mentor, guide, to allow these young boys to go out there and showcase their talent to the world.
"All of us are on the same page, no egos in the dressing room, one common goal to just win cricket games and dominate," Bravo added.
The T20 World Cup in Australia begins on October 18.
(Inputs from ESPNcricinfo)
