Want to do well for Windies in all formats, not just Tests, says skipper Holder

West Indies Test captain and ace all-rounder Jason Holder has said he might be leading the five-day team but wants to do well in shorter formats too.

“I don’t want to just segregate myself and pigeon-hole myself to one particular format,” Holder was quoted as saying by ‘windiescricket.com’.

The 28-year-old has led West Indies in Tests for the last five years including the series win over England last year.

“Yes I’m the captain for the Test team but as I’ve crossed formats for a number of years, I think my sole focus has been on West Indies cricket, ideally in all three formats not only in Test cricket.

“I think West Indies cricket is so diverse in many different ways and for us as players, we’ve got to understand each and everyone of us has a part to play in this whole puzzle,” added Holder who is ranked No.1 in the ICC international Test all-rounders’ list.

“I love the leadership role; the leadership role for me is one where it makes me focus and drives me in a way where my performances definitely have to lead by example and I definitely have to practice what I preach.”

All cricket is currently put on ice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo feels the current team is better than the 2016 squad which went on to become the T20 World Champions.

Bravo also spoke about the strength in depth and stated a number of power-hitters in the line-up make West Indies a very dangerous prospect to come up against in the shortest format.

“In the last series in Sri Lanka, we had a team meeting, and coach Phil Simmons put the team down, the list, and he put it down in batting order, and he had my name down at No. 9,” Bravo said.

“And I said to the guys, I said listen, I don’t think I was ever involved in a T20 team when I am down to bat at No. 9.

“I’m just in awe of our batting line-up, and I said to the guys, I said listen, I think this team is actually better than our World Cup winning team, and that is no joke, because at the end of the day, you have batting all the way down to No. 10,” he added.

Bravo feels the prospect of facing such a high-profile batting line-up will be an intimidating prospect for any opposition in the world.

“Imagine a full-strength West Indies team, everyone is on deck. As a bowler, you get Evin Lewis out, (Shimron) Hetmyer comes in, you get Hetmyer out, (Nicholas) Pooran comes in,” Bravo said.

“You get Lendl Simmons out, (Andre) Russell comes in, you get Russell out, (Kieron) Pollard comes in, you get Pollard out, Rovman Powell comes in, and it keeps going, going, and then you reach the champion DJ Bravo.

“It’s an intimidating team, it’s a team to intimidate the opposition, and that excites me,” he said.

Bravo also revealed he is focussing on helping the team in dying overs of a match. Stemming the flow of runs in the latter stages of an innings is important in T20s and according to Bravo, he has taken over that role in this team.

“I will just do my part as a bowler, try to control the back end of the innings, especially closing off the innings with death bowling, which has been, in the past, a bit of a concern for us,” Bravo said.

“You saw how Oshane Thomas did with his pace in Sri Lanka. Then you have Sheldon Cottrell, now a leader of the attack, Kesrick Williams on the bench, so things starting to look bright again, things starting to look good again.”

Agencies