India have good line-up, we’ve planned for them: Jason Holder
Holder conceded that West Indies have a plan in place for their all-important encounter against India.
For Holder, it’s not only Dhoni but also the likes of A B de Villiers, who have inspired him. (Source: Reuters)
West Indies cricket team’s young captain Jason Holder today said that he has picked up subtle nuances of leadership from Mahendra Singh Dhoni while playing for his IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings.
“I’ve picked up a lot from Dhoni. He’s a good leader. (Full Coverage| Venues | Fixtures)
He’s a guy who is respected in the dressing room,” the 23-year-old fast bowler said on the eve of West Indies’ ICC World Cup match against India, tomorrow.
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For Holder, it’s not only Dhoni but also the likes of A B de Villiers, who inspired him.
“Going about my career, I tend to look at a few players and look at a few things people do, not only MS Dhoni, but also other successful players, who have played cricket before.
I just try to take bits and pieces from everybody and try to put it together into one,” said Holder, who has played 30 ODIs for his country so far since his debut in 2013.
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Asked if the WACA strip is their chance to win, the West Indies skipper said, “As I said before, cricket is played on a day. Yesterday( on Thursday), I faced a pretty good batsman (AB de Villiers), who was in good form. But I think tomorrow (on Thursday), if we are very disciplined, we’ll get the better of them, put some pressure on them and at least try to finish off the innings.”
Holder showed a lot of respect for the Indian batting line-up.
“Obviously, they have good players, who are in form. You know Virat has been phenomenal for them over the last years.
They have Shikhar Dhawan, who has been in some form, and you have players like (Suresh) Raina and MS Dhoni. But I will back
my bowlers to execute their plans.
“But they have a pretty good line-up and some good quality players. We’ve planned for them and just looking to execute our plans tomorrow (on Friday),” said Holder.
When players don’t perform well, they look up to the captain but what happens when the captain himself is hammered, like de Villiers did to him (104 in 10 overs)?
“Yeah, it’s cricket. It’s sport after all. You have good days and you also have bad days. You go back to the drawing board after each performance. Obviously, I’ve had a bad bowling effort in the last game. But I’m not too worried about it. That’s gone. That is in the past, and I’ve taken a lot from it. So I’m really looking forward to tomorrow( Friday) to just come back stronger,” said Holder.
He expressed his gratefulness to legends like former captain Clive Lloyd and fast bowler Curtly Ambrose for passing on their experience to the team.
“Well, his (Ambrose) knowledge goes a long way. He’s played the game and has been successful. So he’ll just try to impart his knowledge amongst the bowlers and the entire team.”
On Lloyd, the skipper revealed that the one-on-one sessions with individual players have been very helpful.
“Lloyd had numerous chats with the players one-on-one, and I’m sure he has imparted his knowledge amongst the entire group. He’s a very knowledgeable guy. He’s been successful before, obviously. So his opinions and his expertise go a long way, so the guys really cherish that.”
Chris Gayle today took part in full training session, putting speculations about his rumoured back injury to rest.
“As far as I know, Gayle turned up to practice the last time and today, so that makes two. Everybody’s good to go. We’ve had some days off, obviously, so we just try to manage our players well so they’ll be fresh enough for the game tomorrow. It’s an important game and it’s a must-win for us, so we’re just trying to get everybody fresh and ready to go,” said Holder.
Admitting that left-handed stylish batsman Darren Bravo will be missed, Holder said: “We’ve got quality batsmen. I think if you look at this, we’ve gone in excess of 300 on three or four occasions. Each game somebody has stepped up and taken the mount for themselves.
“We have Marlon Samuels who has done a good job, and Jonathan Carter who is coming into his own. Yeah, Darren is obviously missed, but I don’t think it’s a big hole left in the team. We have guys to fill the bill.”
Insisting that it is important to take one match at a time, Holder said right now the priority is to beat India.
“I think it’s important to take it game by game. I think it’s important that we beat India first and move into our last preliminary game against UAE. But I don’t want to look too far down the road. I think it’s important to look at each particular game as it comes. Tomorrow is India, so we’ll put all our focus into India.”
The captain was also non-committal on the playing XI.
“Tomorrow, we’ll make a decision on that. Obviously, the conditions here seem to be fair to the fast bowlers, but as I said we’ll have to make a decision tonight and announce it tomorrow,” concluded Holder.
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