Jason Holder has said that the team should believe that nothing is impossible and continue being happy with the collective success of the team. West Indies recently sealed a 3-2 win over England as they won the fifth T20I by 17 runs courtesy of a brilliant spell from Holder.
West Indies recently won a five match T20I series against England by a score of 3-2. They will now tour India for three ODIs and three T20Is. Jason Holder was the brilliant performer for West Indies in the England series and was named Player of the Series. He also turned the match in his side’s favor taking 4 wickets on 4 consecutive balls in his bowling spell. Reflecting on the series win against England, Holder said that the team should believe that nothing is impossible and continue to build as a team.
“We aint 100%, but we’re building nicely. For me, this is the closest that I’ve felt a group be in a very, very long time. Honest to God, the energy I felt from the meetings… most contributions I’ve ever seen in a West Indies dressing room. Even though you might not understand a certain decision, everybody’s still buying in with it,” Holder said, reported ESPNcricinfo.
“Tough luck to the guys who didn’t really get the opportunity but they never showed it: I ain’t seen a boy sulk. That says a lot about the camaraderie and the strength of the unit. I don’t think it’s a finished product and we’ve got to strive to be consistent.”
“We’ve got a couple of days before we start, start over, and then we go again in India. Nothing is impossible. We’ve got to believe that nothing is impossible and continue to be happy for one another’s success and continue to build as a team.”
West Indies entered the series on the back of a shocking ODI series defeat against Ireland at home. The result was an upset as the Caribbean team was beaten in their own backyard by a side behind them in the ICC rankings. Holder said that making a comeback from a series defeat and winning in such a manner demonstrated the team’s character.
“It’s been great after the start we had in Jamaica against Ireland – where everybody was really, really down and deflated – to see the way we’ve bounced back here against England. We really pulled together as a side. It’s a great feeling: hopefully we can continue this on and keep building something special,” he explained.
“I think we came together, closer. After that series we were shell-shocked, very, very disappointed, and we felt as though we let not only ourselves down, but the entire region. We had extensive chats and everybody had to do some soul-searching. Feeling the way we did after that series made us really pull together and come out with a big performance here in this series.”
Holder scalped 15 wickets in the series becoming the highest wicket-taker in a bilateral T20I series. He also became the only fourth bowler to take four wickets in four balls in T20Is during the final fixture of the series. His consistent performances in the series got him a Player of the Series award.
“I was just pleased with the consistency in terms of the wicket-taking column. It’s something I pride myself on, particularly in this format. There were tough times in the series, which you would expect, and just the way I came through the tough periods was very, very pleasing. There’s still areas to improve on, coming back and finishing off spells well,” he explained.
“It’s special for me, knowing how badly I felt after the Ireland series. Personally, I felt as though I let the team down with my personal performances. It wasn’t for lack of effort, it was just one of those times where it didn’t click and it didn’t happen. But everything happens in its time and this series was my time.”
Holder provided a Player of the Match performance in the first and final T20I. The all-rounder was also troubling England with the new ball in the series. He revealed that he was unaware that he had taken a wicket on the last delivery of the innings in the fifth T20I and realized it only after the replay was shown on the big screen.
“I was just happy that [the final ball] didn’t go for six and I knew the game was definitely closed off there. I didn’t realise the ball hit the stump and it was only when Sheldon [Cottrell] came running towards us, and Nicholas [Pooran], that we found out that the ball actually hit the stumps,” he concluded.
“Even when we were waiting for the decision on the big screen, I don’t think any of us were 100% sure, but then to see the ball clipping the stumps and the bail falling was exceptional.”
