Dwayne Bravo's prediction comes true as Basil Thampi earns T20I call-up

Bravo and Thampi were teammates in IPL 2017 for Gujarat Lions

What's the story?

India's selection of Gujarat Lions and Kerala all-rounder Basil Thampi might have taken a few by surprise, but not West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo. The two were teammates at Gujarat Lions in IPL 2017 when the latter predicted that Thampi will feature for India "in a year or so".

Less than seven months on, his words have come true as Thampi earned his maiden India call-up for the T20I series against Sri Lanka. Following which, the Windies star took to Instagram to wish him luck.

7mths ago I said in an interview that this young man @basilthamby will play for team India ?? one day an now 7mths later he’s in the squad ?? wishing u all the best brother and remember the two most important balls in T20 #champion #djbravo47 #1

A post shared by Dwayne Bravo (@djbravo47) on Dec 4, 2017 at 8:28pm PST

In case you didn't know...

Dwayne Bravo and Basil Thampi both were in the Gujarat Lions side in IPL 2017. In April, Bravo said: "Basil Thampi is a very, very talented youngster. I would say he will get the opportunity to play for Team India in a year or so. He has the talent, obviously, but he also has a lot of heart, pace and the skill. He's always willing to learn".

The heart of the matter

While West Indian all-rounder missed the entire season of the IPL after failing to recover from the hamstring injury he sustained during the Big Bash League earlier this year, Thampi was one of the finds of the tournament. After impressing for Kerala in the domestic T20 tournament earlier in the year and in the IPL, he has continued his good form for India A and in this season of the Ranji Trophy.

Thampi picked up four wickets in the two List-A matches for India A against New Zealand at Visakhapatnam. He was also an integral part of Kerala's progression to the quarter-final of this year's Ranji Trophy, picking up seven wickets and scoring a crucial fifty in the last two matches.

What's next?

Promising performances in the domestic circuit and for India A has earned Thampi his maiden India call-up. It remains to be seen if he is picked and gets to make his debut as well.

Author's take

Thampi has certainly come a long way and earned his maiden T20I call-up. His potential was evident to Bravo courtesy of spending time with him in the nets. And it is great to see that the selectors too have recognised the potential that the 24-year-old possess and picked him for the T20I series against Sri Lanka.