Dwayne Bravo is promising to bring his energy and enthusiasm to the West Indies team in the upcoming ICC World T20 Tournament. The Vice Captain and Number 47 is itching to run onto the field in the sparkling new Windies kit, when the home boys take to the field for their tournament-opener against Ireland under lights at the Guyana National Stadium on Friday (5 pm Eastern Caribbean Time/4 pm Jamaica Time).

West Indies vice captain Dwayne Bravo.

“This is a big tournament, a very important tournament for us! We are really, really looking forward to this event. It is an open tournament, all the teams are good and have a good chance, but we believe we have the ability to go all the way. As West Indians we are all looking forward to the next two weeks … so we as a people can showcase to the world what we are all about. As a player, I am up to the challenge and we will be trying to have a better ICC World T20 Tournament than we did last year in England. Last year, we had a decent time reaching the semi-finals and that was very good. This time around we are at home and we want to use home advantage and go further.”

“We have a well-balanced team with a lot of experience. While I was in India I was in touch with the coach and the management staff and the feedback was that the players did really well in the camp in Barbados and in the festival in Jamaica. It was great to see the guys winning … they kept active and were in good form. Now that I’m back, along with Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Kemar Roach from the IPL, I think we will make a big boost to the team. We are all excited and eager to run onto that field and represent the people of the West Indies.”

“You can expect energy from me always… whenever I step on the cricket field it is guaranteed that I will give the team 100 percent. It is part of my job as Vice Captain to be that also to be that livewire in the team and also to support Chris – who has been doing a good job as the team leader. We also have some other very good allrounders in the team like Darren Sammy and Pollard, who also bring energy and enthusiasm and this helps to pull the players together and pull the team along. It is good to have other allrounders alongside me who are just as good and all we want to do is go out there and make major contributions.”

The Windies will have their only official warm-up match against New Zealand at the Guyana National Stadium on Wednesday at 5 pm (4 pm Jamaica Time). There are in Group D and the Tournament matches are against Ireland (Friday, April 30) and England (Monday, May 3).

West Indies squad: Chris Gayle (Captain), Dwayne Bravo (Vice Captain), Shiv Chanderpaul, Andre Fletcher, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Narsingh Deonarine, Wavell Hinds, Denesh Ramdin, Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy, Sulieman Benn, Nikita Miller, Jerome Taylor, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach.

Team Management: Joel Garner (Team Manager), Ottis Gibson (Head Coach), David Williams (Assistant Coach), Jimmy Adams (Technical Advisor), C.J. Clark (Physiotherapist), Richard Berridge (Video & Statistical Analyst), Philip Spooner (Media Officer), Hector Martinez-Charles (Strength & Conditioning Coordinator), Virgil Browne (Massage Therapist).