Even as ‘Champion’ blared from the speakers at the Eden Gardens and the maroon jerseys took over the dancing duties, there were moments spared by each of West Indies’ title-winning team to bring focus to the dire conditions under which they have been playing for the country.
While skipper Darren Sammy minced no words in the post-match presentation interview, Dwayne Bravo told host broadcaster Star Sports that even the BCCI did more for them than their home board.
The country’s cricket is not in right hands. We have not got a telephone call from any of the WICB officials or directors. That’s not a good thing. We know that they did not want or believe that we could win this tournament. It was basically us against them. Even the BCCI does more for us.Dwayne Bravo, West Indies
Bravo was talking about the West Indies Cricket Board’s current stand-off with the players that had seen them even threaten to send a second-string team to the tournament, if the current lot did not agree to their contractual terms.
Just like skipper Sammy, Bravo also brought forward the skewed selection procedure that will see Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy and even himself not be picked in the country’s ODI side.
If we look at the calendar, we don’t have anymore T20 matches this year. We are not picked for the ODIs. There’s a series that’s going to happen with South Africa but we will be playing in England (Natwest Blast) whereas we should have been playing for the West Indies. Look at the love we get over here. Even the BCCI does more for us than our board.Dwayne Bravo, West Indies
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