Samuels and Brathwaite celebrate after sealing the title. © Getty
Carlos Brathwaite, the West Indies all-rounder who stole the limelight with four consecutive sixes to win the ICC World Twenty20 title in the final against England, joined captain Darren Sammy in expressing his disappointment over the lack of support from the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).
"Most of the nations have more resources than we do, but we have natural talent," Brathwaite, 27, told ESPN Caribbean on Monday (April 4), echoing his skipper's sentiments during their trophy acceptance speech after the high-voltage finale at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
"It has been said we don't have brains, that we don't harness our talent, that we do things off the field that contribute to poor on-field success. But I just want to say, being around these guys, that everything we do on and off the field is for the betterment of West Indies, not just the team but also cricket and the region in general."
With 19 required off the final six deliveries, Brathwaite smashed the bowler, Ben Stokes, for four back-to-back sixes - over long leg, long-on, long-off and deep midwicket - to help West Indies defeat England by four wickets in a thrilling final and win their second ICC title in the shortest format.
"It was a little nerve-wracking to be honest, I just tried to stay focused, use my cue words, watch the ball and take some pressure off Marlon [Samuels]," Brathwaite said. "It would have been too hard to give him a single and expect him to do it all. I just had to bite the bullet and try to get a couple of boundaries, which fortunately I did, give God thanks for bringing it home for the people in West Indies.
"After the third six, I just backed myself, go hard, if it goes in the air I knew Marlon would finish it, but I knew I had to be there as close to the end as possible. We continued to back ourselves, back our strength and our strength is hitting boundaries. Once we knew it was manageable, we knew we could do it."
At the other end, Brathwaite had senior pro Marlon Samuels for company. Samuels, with his unbeaten 85 off 66 balls, had played a key role in keeping the Caribbean team in the hunt, even as wickets tumbled at the other end. Brathwaite was all praise for his senior pro saying he wish he could use 'some expletives to describe how good it was.'
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