Carlos Brathwaite: What links West Indies big-hitter to WG Grace and Rihanna?
By David Currie
Last Updated: 05/04/16 10:17am
Carlos Brathwaite truly announced himself on the world stage, hitting Ben Stokes for four sixes in a row in the final over to win the World T20 for West Indies.
His 34 runs off 10 balls is a career-best in T20Is, following on from another career-best 3-23 with the ball in a terrific all-round display.
But just who is the 27-year-old Brathwaite? And why has it taken us so long to find out about him? Here's what you need to know…
He shares a birthday - July 18 - with…
…WG Grace and Dennis Lillee. Oh, and Alan Pardew. Sticking with the cricketing names though, the 27-year-old finds himself in fine, albeit somewhat controversial, company with greats Grace and Lillee. Grace, the first true cricketing celebrity, had his sportsmanship occasionally called into question, running out Australia's Sammy Jones as he tended the wicket in the 1882 Ashes Test, while fiery-tempered fast-bowler Lillee formed part of a devastating partnership with Jeff Thomson for Australia in the 1970s.
He almost didn't play, did he?
No, he didn't. The equally, if not more, imposing big-hitter Kieron Pollard was initially selected in the squad, but pulled out a month prior to the tournament due to "a lack of sufficient progress in his rehabilitative work since an injury sustained in December" said a West Indies Cricket Board spokesman. In came Carlos in his place, and the West Indies didn't miss a beat.
T20I batting record
Matches: 8
Runs: 59
Best score: 34no
Average: 19.66
Strike rate: 184.37
What links him with Chris Jordan and Rihanna?
Brathwaite played cricket during his formative years at the prestigious Combermere School in Barbados. The school has seen 15 West Indies Test cricketers, and two for England - Chris Jordan and Gladstone Small - pass through its halls, as well as an even more famous and significantly wealthier non-cricketing face. At school she was known as Robyn Fenty, but now is known globally as superstar singer Rihanna.
Impressive start
Brathwaite provided a glimpse of his talent when he took 7-90 on his first-class debut for Barbados against Trinidad & Tobago in 2011, and backed it up with a consistent season that yielded 26 wickets in eight games. His performances won early international recognition, making his ODI and T20 debuts on tour to Bangladesh later that year. He had to wait more than three years for his next chance though.
Twenty20 Bowling Record
Matches: 8
Wickets: 5
Best figures: 3-23
Average: 42.40
Economy rate: 8.83
Success Down Under
Brathwaite made a comeback to the West Indies limited-overs formats on the tour of South Africa in January 2015, before making his Test debut in Australia later that year. Despite the West Indies' overall struggles in a 2-0 series defeat, he impressed. He scored 59 on debut in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, before bettering that with a 71-ball 69 at Sydney. He was less impressive with the ball mind, taking just one wicket in his 43 overs in the series.
He is staying in India for the IPL
Brathwaite's efforts in Australia helped persuade Delhi Daredevils to part with a surprise bid of $620,000 to snap up the burly all-rounder for the 2016 IPL. How excited the Daredevils fans must now be to see him in action after seeing his sensational six-hitting power in the World T20 final against England.
Could he have matched Yuvraj Singh?
His four sixes off the first four balls of Stokes' final over won the game for the West Indies. But if it hadn't, would Brathwaite have matched Yuvraj Singh's feat of six sixes in one over? Yuvraj isn't the only man who has managed it - with Gary Sobers, Ravi Shastri and Herschelle Gibbs doing the same - but his effort against Stuart Broad in 2007 is still the only example at the World T20.