Bravo made his
One Day International debut against England in their 2003/04 tour of the
Caribbean, in a match in which he failed to bat but took 2–31 with the ball. In the West Indies
tour of
England in 2004 Bravo made his
Test debut when he was selected for the First Test at
Lord's in which he scored 44 and 10 and took three wickets. He finished the Test series with 16 wickets and a total of 220 runs with his most impressive performance at
Old Trafford in a match in which he was the top scorer in the first innings with 77 followed by an 6 for 55 performance with the ball. The latter remains his best bowling figures in Test cricket. During a Test series against
South Africa in 2005, Bravo scored his maiden century – 107 before getting out to
Mark Boucher – in the fourth Test in Antigua, but that was overshadowed when he accused South African
Graeme Smith of directing a racist comment at him. At the subsequent hearing no evidence could be found and charges were dropped against Smith, who immediately demanded an apology from Bravo. Bravo, backed by the
West Indies Cricket Board, refused to do so and received a hail of criticism from an indignant South African press while finding support at home as a human rights campaigner.
Years through injuries On the
West Indies tour of Australia in 2005, Bravo was controversially not picked for the first Test at
Brisbane in which the West Indies were beaten convincingly. He was recalled for the second Test in
Hobart and made a superb 113, after coming in at a very difficult stage for the West Indies. His innings lifted the West Indies and helped them regain some pride, forcing the Australians to bat for a second time in the match. In the third and final match of the series at
Adelaide, he bowled a superb spell in the Australians first innings taking 6 for 84. In West Indies tour of New Zealand in early 2006 Bravo strained his left side in the Twenty20 game at the start of the tour and was unable to bowl but still played in all three tests as a specialist batsman. His selection showed how far he had come in the previous two years and how crucial he had become to the West Indies team.
Comeback in 2006 After a disappointing series in
India Bravo returned to top form in the
ICC Champions Trophy 2006 when he took 7 wickets at an average of 27.57 and scored 164 runs at an average of 41 although most of the runs were scored in a dead rubber match with England in which he made his first ever ODI century scoring a majestic 112 not out as part of a second wicket stand of 174 with
Chris Gayle. His bowling contained some lethal slower-paced yorkers with which he dismissed
Michael Clarke and
Chris Read. During the Third Test against
England at
Old Trafford on 9 June 2007, Bravo acted as an emergency wicket-keeper in place of
Denesh Ramdin who had gone off for treatment after being hit on the head with the ball. In the same Test he took the wicket of England batsman
Kevin Pietersen with a
bouncer which struck the batsman's helmet knocking the helmet off of his head onto the stumps and dislodging the bails causing Pietersen to be given out hit wicket.
World Cups Bravo played in all of West Indies games at the
2007 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies. He had a disappointing World Cup scoring 129 runs at an average of 21.50 and although he took 13 wickets at 27.76 his economy rate was 5.56. Against South Africa he conceded 69 runs off 7 overs including 18 off his first over. He played in all West Indies games at the 2009 T20I World Cup and was named in the 'Team of the Tournament' by ESPNcricinfo for the 2009 T20I World Cup. He was ruled out from the
2011 Cricket World Cup in India due to the knee injury when he slipped at the wicket while bowling to South African batsman on 24 February 2011 at Delhi. He was rested for four weeks and could not participate further in the tournament. He played in all of West Indies games at the
2012 ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, which the West Indies won. He played most of the tournament as a batsman as injury prevented him from bowling. For his performances in 2012, he was named in the T20I XI of the year by ESPNcricinfo. In 2014, during a tour of India, Bravo was spokesman for the players during players strike which resulted in the tour being cancelled half way. He was later omitted from the West Indies World Cup squad for the
2015 Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The West Indies struggled in his absence, especially in the bowling department. He then played in all of West Indies games at the
2016 ICC World Twenty20 in India, which the West Indies won. His high quality
death bowling is considered to be one of the main reasons that the West Indies won the title. He was named in the 'Team of the Tournament' by Cricbuzz. In May 2019,
Cricket West Indies (CWI) named him as one of ten reserve players in the
West Indies' squad for the
2019 Cricket World Cup.
Retirement and another comeback On 31 January 2015, Bravo announced his retirement from Test cricket. In October 2018, he announced his retirement from international cricket in all formats but will continue to play franchise T20 cricket. In December 2019, Bravo came out of international retirement in preparation for the
2020 T20 World Cup. In September 2021, Bravo was named in the West Indies' squad for the
2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. On 6 November 2021, Bravo retired from international cricket and played his last
T20I match against
Australia in the
Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium. He continued to play league cricket across the globe and finally announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on 27 September 2024. == T20 Franchise career ==