Holder remains defiant despite loss
West Indies captain says his inexperienced squad need time to reverse long-standing decline
Anyone would hang their head in shame if you lose eight out of 11 matches as captain, but not West Indies skipper Jason Holder, who continues to put on a brave face.
His team is staring at a series whitewash after losing the second Test at the Shaikh Zayed Stadium by 133 runs but Holder says he is not feeling the heat.
“I don’t feel any pressure as captain. It is a young and inexperienced squad. It will take time to get the result we have been looking for,” said Holder, whose team has only pride to play for in the last Test starting on October 30 in Sharjah.
“We have been in the position of inconsistency for the last number of years, so I don’t feel any pressure. I’m here to do a job and I’m trying to do it as best as possible,” said the 24-year-old, who is the second-youngest Test captain of the West Indies.
“We understand the position we are in, but for almost a decade, we have been struggling. We are in a situation where we are trying to get things right by taking in some young players,” said Holder, who is yet to win a Test match.
However, his side has put up a few spirited performances recently.
One of them was against current World No. 1 India in Kingston in August where they ended up saving the Test. In the first Test in Dubai too, they came from behind to almost shock Pakistan.
Matter of time
“It will take a while for these boys to get nourished and developed and we have to give them that opportunity to do so. If you have watched our cricket for the last couple of months then we have shown signs of improvement. Except here, you know in Dubai we put ourselves in a position from where we could have won it. It is just a matter of consistency,” said Holder.
There have been some individual brilliance and it was just a matter of putting things together collectively, he added.
Holder also refused to bite the bait when asked if it was due to the West Indies board’s poor management that has affected his team’s showing.
“I can’t put a line on that, to be honest. I can control what I can control. There are 15 guys on this tour along with the management staff. All of us have to put their hands up together and see how we can move forward and look for consistency,” said Holder.