Expressing his disappointment over the big loss against India, West Indies skipper Jason Holder said that their bowling was poor in the first innings and called for improvement from his players. Replying to India’s huge first innings total of 566, the West Indies could score only 243 in their first innings. Asked to follow on, their batsmen faltered once again and were dismissed for only 231, handing India a victory by an innings and 92 runs.
Excerpts from Holder’s post-match press-conference:
On whether they were under pressure right from day one:
Yeah, it’s always tough to play catch-up cricket. We never bowled well in the first innings…we had some good bowling partnerships but not for long sessions. Going forward we definitely need to improve, to string together better bowling partnerships, bowl more maidens. Having said that we were not able to create enough pressure
On whether the team was a bowler short:
In hindsight, you can say a lot of things. The combination we played had four bowlers and an all-rounder in Roston Chase, who bowls some off-spin. But the execution is the name of the game. I don’t think we executed well enough.
On the need for partnership:
I think we need to string together partnerships for longer periods. We tend to get 20-30-run partnerships but haven’t been able to convert it to fifty and then onwards. Test cricket is about occupying the crease and spending time, but we never showed up for long periods. Some players got starts but were not able to kick on. It’s important for one of the top four batsmen to actually set the tone.
In the first innings, Kraigg Brathwaite did a decent job of it, but we’re not able to string together partnerships upfront and set up a good foundation for a good first innings total. And we were playing catch up from there.
On the need of more all-rounders then bowlers:
In hindsight, you could look at it a number of ways. In cricket, it’s down to execution. We need to execute as bowlers. Before, we have played five bowlers. To me, in this days and age, you need an extra bowler. Having said that, it still boils down to execution. You can play five bowlers, you can play four bowlers but if you don’t execute, at the end of the day you will still be at the first stage.
On how the youngsters are treating the loss:
I think it boils down to personal pride. Roston, Shane [Dowrich] and [Rajendra] Chandrika, myself, [Jermaine] Blackwood are quite young players. We are all looking to make a mark on the international circuit. For us, it’s just personal glory, personal pride. Just execute and performing well, you know, having a good Test career. That’s what each person coming to Test cricket is looking to do. I think all of us want to do that. I think we need to come up with a strong collective effort. As I said we just need to execute, stick together, look at your weak areas, strengths as well and try to make those stronger. In terms of the weaker areas, just tighten up on them.