ODIS AGAINST INDIA: Holder urges players to focus on batting

BARBADOS: West Indies captain Jason Holder said that his batsmen were not up to the mark at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019, and wants them to focus on ‘batting deep’ and ‘taking responsibility’ in the One-Day Internationals against India.

West Indies didn’t have a great World Cup campaign, finishing ninth out of ten teams, with two wins in eight completed matches. Their batting was the biggest let-down, with an average of 30.29 runs per wicket — only Sri Lanka and Afghanistan fared worse.

“We had a few discussions as a group already, and obviously our batting let us down in the World Cup,” Holder said in Guyana on Wednesday.

“I didn’t think we batted well enough for longer periods. We always spoke about having a set batter at the very very end — guys batting deep and taking responsibility. That’s definitely one area that I want to pinpoint, and obviously correct.”

West Indies’ batting continued to look frail in the Twenty20 Internationals, where they suffered a 3-0 sweep against India, but the ODI line-up will receive a fillip due to the presence of Chris Gayle, who missed the T20I leg of the series.

The 39-year-old is on the cusp of becoming the most prolific ODI run-scorer from West Indies, needing just 13 runs to overtake Brian Lara’s tally of 10405.

“Special thing for Chris... He’s obviously done well over the years, and it’s great to still have him in the squad,” Holder remarked. “He brings a lot to the team, his presence is always

felt when he steps on any cricket field and we’re happy to have him in any dressing room.”

West Indies’ bowling unit has shown some promise in recent outings, and Holder was satisfied with how they performed in the World Cup. But he expects the likes of Sheldon Cottrell to display more consistency.

“I felt our bowling was decent throughout the World Cup. We had that spark with people like Sheldon Cottrell, and everybody else pretty much chipped in. I think consistency really plagued us in the World Cup and we definitely have to work on that.”