Gayle is halfway retired, still has cricket left in him: Bravo

West Indies legend Dwayne Bravo felt that Chris Gayle still has few years of cricket left in him and Saturday's match against Australia was 'halfway retirement' for the Windies batting great. 

Bravo, 38, confirmed his international retirement on Thursday following the Super 12s defeat against Sri Lanka and played his final game in the maroon shirt against Australia which West Indies lost by eight wickets.

"He said half of it. He halfway retires. He still has some cricket left. I'm not sure what he's decided yet, but yeah," Bravo said in the post-match press conference.

Bravo, who is still favored by franchises all over the globe, hoped he can keep playing franchise cricket for few more years.

"I will continue playing franchise cricket for a few more years as long as my body will allow me to," he said.

"My aim was to retire a few years ago, but with a change of presidency and change of leadership comes a change of heart, and I wanted to give back to West Indies because I was still in a good place physically and enjoy my cricket," he said.

"....I think this was the right moment for me to walk away from the game, and allow the next generation and young players who I share a very good friendship with to come through.

Bravo said he will continue to help youngsters in the West Indies team as he hoped they can emulate him in terms of longevity.

"They still see me around but more passing information around as policy and trying to give my experience back to the next group of players, and hopefully they can also have a 12 to 18-year career as well," Bravo added.

When asked about the most cherished moments of his career, the all-rounder picked his Test debut against England at Lord's in 2004 alongside few others.

"That was a special moment. Obviously my childhood hero, Lara, was a captain. That was very special. Winning the ICC Champions Trophy in 2004 was another specialty moment for me.

"My first Test against South Africa, another special moment. And obviously the two T20 World Cup was a special moment for me. It was good that I was able to have some success throughout my career."

Bravo, who came out of retirement in 2019, said that skipper Kieron Pollard helped him with making the decision.

"In terms of friendship with Polly, as he said before, I'm his senior but when he come into cricket at a very young age, we all spotted his talent and his ability. I wish he could have played some Test cricket. He didn't even know he was good enough or qualified to play.

"But to see the way he went on and become a superstar in the game, and regardless of what people might say with him not playing Test cricket, he has his own legacy, and he's a superstar of the game and we should be grateful, I am grateful to have him as a teammate and more so a friend.

West Indies came into the tournament as the defending champions but ended their campaign at the Super 12s stage after winning just one of their five matches. Reflecting on the dismal tournament, Bravo was confident that the West Indies can bounce back under the leadership of Pollard.

"I'm still very happy with the way how we lead West Indies cricket in the last two years, and West Indies need strong leadership, and he's a strong leader. We know this wasn't meant to be, but I know as an individual, he will bounce back strong with his character, and I'm very happy that I was able to be a part of this journey with him."