Dwayne Bravo, the leading wicket-taker in T20 cricket, has revealed that he will retire from the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) after the ongoing season. The 40-year-old made his announcement just hours before Trinbago Knight Riders' opening match of CPL 2024 against St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in Basseterre.
Bravo shared his decision on Instagram, expressing that it has been an incredible journey and that this season would be his last. He looked forward to playing his final professional tournament in front of his Caribbean fans, adding that it was fitting for his career to both start and end with the Trinbago Knight Riders. Bravo currently holds the record for the most wickets in CPL history, with 128 wickets in 103 matches at an average of 22.40 and an economy rate of 8.69.
This CPL retirement comes nearly three years after Bravo ended his T20I career following West Indies' early exit from the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE. In 2023, he also retired from the Indian Premier League (IPL) and has since served as the bowling coach for Chennai Super Kings.
Bravo’s CPL legacy is unmatched, having won five titles in total, including three with TKR. He is hoping to cap his CPL career with a fourth title for TKR. He led TKR to back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018 and later captained the Patriots to their first title in 2021. In 2020, Bravo was part of TKR’s undefeated title-winning team, during which he became the first player to reach 500 wickets in T20 cricket.
Before CPL 2021, Bravo joined the Patriots in search of a new challenge and ended up leading them to their first CPL title, marking a dramatic turnaround from their last-place finish in 2020.
Pete Russell, CEO of the CPL, paid tribute to Bravo, emphasising how crucial Bravo has been to the tournament since its inception in 2013. Russell highlighted Bravo's enthusiasm and personality as key factors in making CPL the "biggest party in sport" and expressed confidence that "Sir Champion" will continue to have a significant impact on T20 cricket in the future.
Throughout various T20 leagues, especially the CPL, Bravo has used his experience to mentor younger players, similar to the role MS Dhoni plays at Chennai Super Kings. For instance, during CPL 2021, Bravo mentored all-rounder Dominic Drakes, who went on to win the Player-of-the-Match award in the final. Bravo has continued to guide Drakes in other leagues, including the IPL with Chennai Super Kings and the T10 League with Delhi Bulls.
Bravo has also closely worked with the USA fast bowler Ali Khan, whom he first discovered at the US Open T20 tournament. He later signed Khan for the Winnipeg Hawks in the Global T20 Canada before recommending him to TKR. Coach Simon Helmot, who previously worked with Bravo at Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel and the Patriots, praised Bravo's leadership, noting how he had evolved into the "ultimate leader" by 2021, deeply invested in his team and organisation.
Ahead of CPL 2023, Bravo returned to TKR, forming a formidable core with close friends Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, and Nicholas Pooran. The team advanced to the final but was defeated by Imran Tahir's Guyana Amazon Warriors.
While CPL 2024 will be Bravo’s last tournament on home soil, he will continue to participate in other franchise leagues around the world. He is currently contracted to MI Emirates, who have retained him for the third season of the ILT20 in the UAE, where he will reunite with Pollard and Pooran. Last month, Bravo also played for Texas Super Kings in the Major League Cricket (MLC) in the USA.