It is believed that Rihanna always came to the rescue to help Brathwaite overcome his anxiety and fear especially when Kraigg was subjected to bullying on the school bus.

In September 2013, Brathwaite toured with West Indies A to India for an unofficial test series he finished with a total of 334 in 6 innings with an average of 55.66.

Barbados has played 5 matches which Brathwaite made 85 and 15 against Windward Islands, 19 and 5 against Guyana, 91 vs Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC), 0 against Trinidad, and 21 and 91 against Jamaica.

[10][11] In 2018, he was signed by Nottinghamshire for the County Championship to replace Quinton de Kock who pulled out due to international commitments.

[19] He was declared the player of the match award for his first innings double century which ensured a comfortable ten wicket victory for the West Indies after enforcing follow-on to the visiting side.

He also registered the best bowling figures in an innings of a test match by an opening batsman in nearly 50 years since Frank Worrell's 7/70 against England in 1957.

[22] His bowling efforts rattled Sri Lanka for only 206 runs leaving visitors West Indies a rather comfortable chase of 244 to win the test.

[25] In December 2015, at the Blundstone Arena in Hobart in the 2nd innings of the 1st test of the Sir Frank Worrell Trophy series against Australia, Brathwaite was last man out for a belligerent 94.

His 94 accounted for 63.51% of the West Indies total of 148, the 4th highest percentage of runs in a completed innings in Test Match history.

[28] On 1 November 2016, Brathwaite carried his bat in the first innings becoming the fifth player for the West Indies to do so by scoring 142 not out against Pakistan at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

[40] During the second test match at Headingley, he and Shai Hope smashed crucial centuries to help West Indies level the series 1-1.

[41][42][43] He batted for a duration of six hours during his marathon innings of 134 and he also put on a crucial record breaking 246 run stand with Shai Hope for the fourth wicket.

[44] In September 2019, he was again under the scrutiny after being reported for suspected illegal bowling action for a second time in his career during the second test match against India in Kingston.

[65] He also remained unbeaten on 56 facing 184 balls on the final day of the test match and received the player of the match award for his long marathon efforts with the bat in both the innings which helped West Indies to snatch a tense draw from the jaws of defeat when heading into the final hours of the day's play.

[73] In January 2025, he led a young West Indies side to a test match victory in Pakistan after 35 years.