Darren Bravo returned to international red-ball arena with twin failures in the first Test at Barbados. The southpaw needed to find form sooner rather than later and he finally did, with a resilient half-century in Antigua to set-up West Indies' series-clinching victory by ten wickets.
Although Bravo, who was on an exile of more than two years following his dispute with Cricket West Indies (CWI), made a comeback in limited-overs cricket during the tour of Bangladesh last season, he still missed playing Test cricket for the Calypso Kings.
"My goal as a kid was to play 100 Tests. And it was my goal when I made my debut. It's still my goal. I don't think anything can replace that, actually. I'm on 51 now, so I have a few more to go," Bravo was quoted saying by ESPNcricinfo.
"Hopefully, I can play for another five years and achieve that. Test cricket is most definitely the best test of a player. This - playing for West Indies - is my main focus. I'm available for all three formats and I'm happy to be back."
Bravo got his contract suspended for a post on his Twitter account, which called the West Indies Cricket Board President Dave Cameron a "Big Idiot". While he denied having tweeted it himself, the remark didn't go down well with the administrators in the Caribbean at all.
But is it possible that, just like him, all of regions best players, who have their own issues with the board, once again feature at this level?
"I know all of them have West Indies cricket at heart. But all their situations are a bit different. I'd love to have them back," Bravo asserted, "They're all game-changers. They're very experienced. But it's up to them. I don't want to speak too much about it. We all know who we're speaking about."
"If you can get the best of both worlds, that would be ideal. I'm happy to be back. I'm not sure what's next for [my] T20 [franchise career]. We'll see how it goes. I don't know what the future holds."
Before this series kickstarted, Bravo last played a Test match in November 2016. But he wasn't afraid of the possibility that he might never get to wear those prestigious whites again.
"I knew this day would come. I knew they wanted me back and I always knew I wanted to play Test cricket again. I wasn't nervous in Barbados; it was normal for me," the 29-year-old added.
"They knew what I was capable of doing. My experience was a probably a vital part in coming back. As you could see from my innings in this Test, I have what it takes to play at this level."
