30 May,2009 12:25 PM IST | | AFP
While his colleagues shivered and slumped to an embarrassing Test series defeat in England, Dwayne Bravo was gaining crucial Twenty20 experience in the IPL.
Playing in the same Mumbai Indian squad as Sachin Tendulkar, he hit a memorable unbeaten 70 against Kings XI Punjab although his efforts weren't enough to give his side a semi-final place.
The 25-year-old Trinidadian had long been touted as a future West Indies star ever since his Test debut in 2004 when he snatched three wickets against England at Lord's.
His reputation grew, especially in the limited overs form of the game, and he took over the captaincy in 2007 when Chris Gayle was injured.
Bravo suffered an ankle injury in 2008 which kept him sidelined for eight months.
Despite returning to face England in the ODI series in the Caribbean earlier this year, he wasn't selected for the tour to face Andrew Strauss's side and he was allowed to play again for the Mumbai Indians.
Like Gayle, Bravo is a fan of the IPL.
"I learn about others. IPL has been great in that way. These are the players you are playing against, and now you get to know them better," he told cricinfo.com.
He also admitted that his frustrating time out of the game also helped him refocus.
"For those eight months, I had a lot of time to think about where I wanted my career to go. I definitely want to make up for mistakes," added a man who is averaging just over 16 with the bat in his nine T20 internationals while also picking up four wickets.
"Sometimes the shot selection wasn't great, some times it was bad decisions by me and other times, I used to bat after a long bowling spell and felt tired."
"That's why I am working very hard on my fitness now. I want to play well and for long, contribute to my team's success consistently."
