Dwayne Bravo ready for international return after change of guard at WICB
New Delhi, Dec 13: West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo on Friday announced his return to international cricket, little over a year after he called it quits due to a bitter fallout with his country's Board.
Bravo said the decision was prompted by the change of guard in the Cricket West Indies (CWI), where former team manager Ricky Skerritt took over as the new president replacing Dave Cameron earlier this year.
"Today I confirm the announcement of my decision to return to International Cricket to all my fans and well wishers all around the world," the 36-year-old said in a statement.
"It's no secret that this big announcement has come as a result of the changes made at the administration level. For a while now I have been contemplating my return to international cricket and my decision was solidified by these positive changes," he added.
Bravo had a bitter spat with Cameron and had accused him of destroying careers. This was after a Bravo-led West Indies team abandoned a tour of India in 2014 midway during an ODI series owing to a pay dispute with the WICB.
The Caribbean side is currently in India for a limited-overs series, the T20 leg of which ended 2-1 in favour of the hosts. The three one-dayers will get underway on Sunday.
"With the current leadership of coach Phil Simmons and captain Kieron Pollard I'm really excited about this come back and about the chance to be part of something really special," Bravo said.
"We have a lot of young talent on the team as well as cricketers with a wealth of experience such as Pollard, (Lendl) Simmons and Jason Holder and I believe that I can contribute to a positive change.
"With a powerful team such as ours we can definitely rebuild the WI T20I cricket team on and off the field and improve our rankings. I will remain fully committed to WI T20 team once selected. Thank you to all my fans and supporters for your continuous support as always," he added.
Although he announced his retirement in 2018, Bravo has not played for the West Indies since September 2016.
His last international appearance was a T20I against Pakistan in the UAE.
Earlier in November, the 36-year-old hinted that he is considering playing international cricket again while congratulating the West Indies team for a 3-0 clean sweep over Afghanistan in an ODI series in Lucknow.
Bravo featured in 40 Tests, 164 ODIs and 66 T20Is for the West Indies. He has scored 6310 runs across all formats and bagged 337 wickets to go with it.
He still continues to play T20 cricket for franchises like the Chennai Super Kings (IPL), Lahore Qalandars (PSL), Melbourne Renegades (BBL), Trinbago Knight Riders (CPL), Winnipeg Hawks (Canada).
He recently played for Maratha Arabians, who won the Abu Dhabi T10 League.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
