Despite constant comparisons with Brian Lara regarding his style of batting, Darren Bravo said, "Knowing what Brian (Lara) has achieved, I do not see any comparison. I bat my natural way. I am Darren Bravo."
Bravo said his match-winning innings of 86 here on Thursday was an important effort for him. "I was not picked for the second and the third ODIs. So I had to make this game count."
He also gave credit to senior batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan for encouraging him to stay at the wicket. "He told me to build my innings, said runs would come later."
Bravo was looking forward to the three-Test series against India. "I should be there in the Test team. I like to spend time at the crease. Test cricket suits my game."
He added the Indian batting line-up could be intimidated by the West Indies pace attack in the Test series. Kemar Roach is bowling well and Ravi Rampaul can be fast too. If Fidel Edwards is fit then it will be a very good pace attack."
On his rash stroke that led to his dismissal at a critical phase of the chase, India skipper Suresh Raina admitted, "I needed to spend time in the middle. I batted well in the first two games. After that I have had a rush of blood in my innings. There is no excuse. I played a couple of bad shots."
He added, "Hopefully I will have a couple of good sessions ahead of the first Test with my coach and the senior cricketers."
Raina said the Indian batsmen were not against short-pitched bowling from the quicks. "Rohit and Virat batted well here today. You saw that"
Coach Duncan Fletcher was full of praise for the manner in which Raina led a young Indian side. “At 24 years, captaining India, I don’t think there is any pressure on an individual bigger than that. Raina
is still developing but I like the way he got along with the other individuals on and off the field. He put his head on the block, took criticism yet held his head high. He didn’t let it drop. His body language was positive. He could develop into a good captain."
The coach was also impressed with Virat Kohli's batting. "He is a very good player. He went through a phase when he was hard on himself and didn’t get runs. Today he showed that he could apply his mind under pressure. His innings was outstanding.”
Fletcher said the Indian bowling rose to the occasion. "Ishant's one particular spell was encouraging and he bowled with good pace and line. Munaf and Praveen produced some good spells. Among the
spinners, Mishra pulled us back regularly. Ashwin bowled very well. Harbhajan put up a good performance.”
There are rumours doing the rounds about Munaf Patel's fitness but Fletcher refused to comment when asked whether the paceman had any injury concerns.
The Indian coach was not willing to be critical about those cricketers who did not quite cash in on the opportunities on limited overs leg of this tour. "Five matches or a few games in a five-match series are not
enough to judge a cricketer's ability. You need to give them a longer run to develop."
On India's defeat in the last two ODIs, Fletcher said, "Sometimes it is hard to maintain concentration after winning the series."
