Shortly afterwards he had sealed the West Indian victory in the first Test against England at Bridgetown with innings figures of eight for 60 off spinner Roston Chase spoke with feeling about Jason Holder hailing his captain as a “legend in my eyes, a longtime friend who I believe in and who believes in himself on the field.’’ It was a fitting tribute to a man who is a born leader. ’
It is unfortunate that thanks to several run-ins with the authorities several leading cricketers prefer to ply their trade in the various T-20 leagues around the world instead of representing the West Indies. At full strength, they would not only be a far stronger side but also a very exciting one. But recent results have shown that the West Indies might just be turning the corner. And the man responsible for this, the man who can lead them to at least something of their past glory has to be Holder.
Ever since he took over the leadership the soft spoken, affable 27 year old Holder has looked the part trying his best to inspire his weak side to play above their potential. Leading from the front has come naturally to him and what happened a few days ago at Bridgetown was the high point of this aspect of his captaincy. His unbroken seventh wicket partnership of 295 runs with Shane Dowrich ruthlessly consolidated the West Indian position and saw them finish with a crushing 381 run victory – their third highest in terms of a run margin – with a day to spare. Holder’s unbeaten 202 – the third highest score by a No 8 batsman in Test cricket – broke several records and has lifted him to the No 1 spot among the all rounds in the ICC rankings ahead of Ravindra Jadeja and Shakib al Hasan and making him the first West Indian to occupy the top slot since the one and only Gary Sobers. To highlight the greatness of Holder’s achievement it must be pointed out that Sobers held the spot in March 1974.
The team is certainly developing along the right lines. In Shai Hope and Darren Bravo they have two high class batsmen and in Kraigg Brathwaite they have an opening batsman who has delivered. Shannon Gabriel and Kemar Roach are two very fine fast bowlers and in Shimron Hetmyer they have an emerging star. All the pieces have just to fall in place for the West Indies and there is little doubt that Holder will have a crucial role to play in this process.