Bravo turns on style

With an average in the low thirties after 27 ODIs and few innings of note since his debut,Bravo had done little to climb out of his mentors shadow. And in fact,he had been reduced to just another young West Indian batsman,who had flattered to deceive. After a string of failures against Pakistan and the first ODI in this series,Bravo had even been left out of the following two matches.

On Thursday,however,after yet another unconvincing start,the 22-year-old left-hander from Trinidad finally managed to break away,if only briefly,from Laras shadow with a memorable innings to guide West Indies to their second consecutive win in the series. And en route to his eventual score of 86,his highest in an ODI to date,Bravo also displayed enough characteristics to justify the constant hype around him and also why he had the ability to be hold his own in years to come.

Lara comparison

Not surprisingly he was asked about the Lara comparison straight up when he faced the media after picking up his man-of-the-match award. And as always Bravo did cringe a little and even sounded a tad haughty in his response.

Its my natural way of batting to be honest. I know they say I look like Lara. I am humbled and grateful to be highlighted in the same bracket as him. But at the end of the day,I just go out there and play like Darren Bravo, he said. But on Thursday,Bravo could be pardoned for his brashness. He had for once showcased a number of his own skills and forced everyone around him to look beyond his resemblance to Lara.

While the back-lift and the flourish of his follow-through to certain shots may be reminiscent of one of the best batsmen to grace the cricketing field in history,Bravo lacks the timing that Lara was blessed with. He doesnt caress the ball but rather looks to power it. But if theres one shot of his that is to-the-core Laraesque then it is his cover drive.

But in the middle of a bad-run with the bat,Bravo has been struggling to connect with his cover-drives and more often than not ended up edging it to the wicket-keeper. And he didnt look convincing with his stroke-play on Thursday either to start with. His first two boundaries in fact came off thick edges that flew past the slip-cordon.

Batting in the top-order,Bravo has often come out to bat with a number of overs to spare thanks mainly to the inconsistency of the West Indian openers. And the biggest bane for the youngster has been his inability to get off to a brisk start. He often ends up in a rut,and by the time he decides to get going the match has already moved on too far ahead.

Sarwan hurts India before retiring

Though he continued to take time to settle down at the crease at the other end,veteran Ramnaresh Sarwan was in the middle of his best innings in over a year and controlling West Indiess chase of 247 commendably. But when Sarwan walked off the field retired hurt for a 94-ball 75,the onus fell on Bravos shoulders. The required rate was burgeoning rapidly. Two balls after Sarwan limped off; Bravo rushed down the wicket and lifted R Ashwin over long-on for his first six.

But even when he brought up his half-century,he had consumed 79 balls and the West Indies required more than nine runs an over. It is here that Bravo took control of the proceedings. He first hit Ashwin for two consecutive sixes,before repeating the feat against Amit Mishra in the very next over. And by the time,he hit Vinay Kumar over long-off for his sixth six,Bravo had not only taken West Indies to the brink of a convincing victory,he had ensured that at least briefly his likeliness to Lara will take a back-seat.