West Indies captain Jason Holder conceded that the embarrassing back-to-back three-day defeats against India is “difficult to digest”, considering pitches were batsman-friendly.
West Indies lost the first Test by an innings and 272 runs and the next by 10 wickets.
“Honestly, it’s hard to take it. I am trying to understand the reasons why it is happening. It’s a case where we all need to put our heads together – the management, the selectors and the players. The onus must be on the players and we must be responsible for our actions,” said Holder.
“We got to come together a little bit more and find ways and solutions to deal with the problems that we have at the moment.”
Asked about the positives, the skipper termed Roston Chase and Sherman Lewis’ performance.
“It’s a tough series and we didn’t play our best cricket. We look back in the last two years and we have some good results. India is No.1 team in the world and we expected to be pushed by them. They’re quality cricket side, especially in their own backyard. We all saw some positive performances from Roston Chase. I thought Sherman was awesome.”
He admitted that batting has been an issue for them for quite some time now.
“You can look and honestly say we didn’t put enough runs on the board. Quite for some time now, we’ve been relatively inconsistent and that has really let us down in the recent past. We haven’t been getting the runs we’ve been looking for.
“We have heavily relied on middle and lower half which is not ideal. So we need to rectify at the top. The guys in the top five have to put hands up and come to the party,” he said.
Holder also said that he is looking to hone his fast bowling skills by taking inspiration from pace legends Glenn McGrath and James Anderson.
Holder claimed his fifth five-wicket haul in the second Test against India but his effort was not enough as the tourists suffered a 2-0 series whitewash.
Holder, who missed the first Test in Rajkot, returned figures of 5-56 in India’s first innings after hitting a gritty 52 in his team’s first essay in Hyderabad.
But Holder, standing six feet and 7 inches tall, believes he has room to improve as a bowler, and that following Australia’s McGrath and Anderson of England is the way forward.
“Funnily enough, I have been watching lots of clips.. People like Glenn McGrath and even James Anderson. And these guys have got lot of skill in terms of moving the ball both ways,” said Holder, who has captained West Indies in 27 of his 35 Tests.
“The one thing that’s common with both of them is the amount of pressure that they build,” Holder said of the two cricket icons.
The 36-year-old Anderson recently became the leading fast bowler in Test history by picking up his 564th scalp during the India series.
He moved past Australia’s pace ace McGrath who retired in 2007 with 563 wickets from 124 Tests.
At 26, Holder has only just begun in comparison with the game veterans. He has 86 wickets to his name since making his five-day debut in 2014.
“You just got to understand the conditions. Field placing comes in a lot, something that I have to work personally as a player and trying to know my strengths and weaknesses,” he said after his team’s 10-wicket loss to India.
(With PTI and AFP inputs)
