Bravo shrugs off Lara hype

Darren Bravo insists he can stamp his own authority on the World Cup.

NEW DELHI: Highly rated West Indies batsman Darren Bravo shrugged off comparisons with Brian Lara on Sunday and insisted he can stamp his own authority on the World Cup.

The 22-year-old Trinidadian left-hander has often been mentioned as a natural successor to his country's record-breaking former skipper, an observation helped by the fact that the two men are cousins.

But Bravo, the younger half-brother of fellow World Cup squad member Dwayne, refuses to get carried away by the hype, having barely begun his Test career after featuring in the recent tour of Sri Lanka and with just 13 one-day internationals under his belt.

"Brian was always my role model and hopefully I can get some inspiration from him," said Bravo.

"Maybe it's just the natural way of my batting. Currently my favourite batsman is Sachin Tendulkar. The way he plans an innings is really special to see."

Bravo, who hit a match-winning 41 to help Trinidad win the recent Caribbean Twenty20 title, admits that he takes inspiration from his more experienced half-brother, Dwayne.

"He has played in all different formats of the game, in all different parts of the world and he always gives me encouragement," said Darren.

"He works out a game plan quite nicely and he tends to make it a bit easy for me and I really appreciate that. Dwayne is always willing to give me 100 percent support and I can't ask for anything but that."