Bravo to slay demons in BBL home return

Melbourne Renegades star Dwayne Bravo admits to a few nerves before his first match at Etihad Stadium since suffering a serious injury at the venue last year.

Dwayne Bravo lays on the ground after sustaining an injury

Melbourne Renegades import Dwayne Bravo has come back from a serious leg injury. (AAP)

Five-wicket BBL hero Dwayne Bravo admits he'll have some mental demons to slay when the Melbourne Renegades host the Brisbane Heat at Etihad Stadium.

On Saturday night, Bravo will make his competitive return to the venue where he suffered a career-threatening hamstring injury almost a year ago.

The star allrounder ripped his left hamstring off the bone chasing a ground ball near the boundary in the Renegades' third match of BBL06 and spent the next eight months recovering from surgery.

"I still have a long way to go but I have no niggles (physically), which is important, it's just a matter of mentally getting over that hurdle," Bravo told reporters on Friday.

"Just trusting my body when I'm running around and diving; not worrying about getting injured again.

"I think it's more mental than anything else.

"But I think once my blood starts flowing all of those things will just go out of my head.

"I will be a little nervous but I'm looking forward to playing back at home again in front of our crowd."

The 34-year-old starred in the Renegades' season-opening win -- a seven-wicket victory against the Hobart Hurricanes at Blundstone Arena -- becoming the first player to take a five-for for the Melbourne team.

His figures of 5-28 also saw him become the first player to reach 400 T20 wickets.

"The 400 (wickets) is a great achievement personally but in a sport like this you rely on your teammates, so they have to get some credit as well," he said.

"It's a great feeling, it's a great accomplishment.

"You look at some of the other bowlers who are up there like Lasith Malinga, Sunil Narine and Shahid Afridi; they're all world-class bowlers and I'm humbled by that.

"But winning cricket games is most important for me."

LEADING TWENTY20 WICKET-TAKERS

400 - Dwayne Bravo (West Indies, 365 matches)

331 - Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka, 248)

307 - Sunil Narine (West Indies, 262)

292 - Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh, 252)

287 - Shahid Afridi (Pakistan, 265)


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Source: AAP



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