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The tag was a curse for me: Brathwaite


Bangladeshpost
Published : 05 Jul 2019 08:30 PM | Updated : 07 Sep 2020 04:16 PM

For a good portion of the last three years, Carlos Brathwaite has had to live with the burden of his "Remember The Name" moment, when he hit Ben Stokes for four sixes in the final over to win West Indies the ICC World T20 in 2016, But now he thinks that tag has brought him down.

"I think it's about firstly accepting the 'Remember The Name' tag," Brathwaite said. "I think I shied away from it a bit. I almost thought it was a curse. It was about accepting that what I did will be remembered for a long time, accepting that I had the privilege of doing it, you know just I guess adorn all the good messages, all the admiration I've received on the streets and on social media.

"Because when I do poorly there'll be the other side as well. So I've accepted it and am actually comfortable to hear it again, it's put that to rest in a way and I'm able to crack on my career and take care of the small processes that eventually turns into positive or negative results. I always thought I had it in control. Evidently, it didn't. I guess it was the expectations that weighed me down a bit. I didn't have the performances I wanted to. But I found ways to deal with it an hopefully the performances in this World Cup can be a springboard to a long a successful career."

"So I can only control what I can control. Obviously it hasn't always turned to fruition when results are concerned. But you know I think I'm an honest cricketer and eventually, the results will show. So I don't think I had too bad of a World Cup. Obviously would have loved to have a better world cup, lead us into few more wins and into the final four. But that wasn't to be, so just giving thanks for the performances that we did have."

"I guess at that time I was obviously upset that we didn't get the over the line. But I didn't really understand the magnitude of the emotions. I had a few sleepless nights before the India game... should I have gone for a single, should I have gone for a six. " He said.

Brathwaite continues, "I guess it comes with the territory. I'm happy to get an international century. It's been a long journey and I'm happy with the technique and process I'm using now. I'm beginning to bring slightly more consistency so I'm happy with that. It's all part of the process and the journey."