BCCI Logo
BCCI Logo

News

Holder pins hopes on ‘must win’ game

Thu 5 Mar 2015, 2:00 pm

Holder pins hopes on ‘must win’ game
Summary

West Indies captain wary of India challenge; backs team to come good on Friday

Jason Holder has labelled his side’s next game against India as a ‘must-win’ game. West Indies have managed just two wins in their four games and their knock-out hopes and position in the points table depends a lot in the game results against India and UAE. For starters, West Indies will be eager to bowl at the WACA, a pitch that will help their tall and lanky fast bowlers with regards to pace and bounce. “Traditionally the WACA has presented a lot of bumps and pits,” observed Holder. “I have played here before and enjoyed the conditions here. I am sure tomorrow will be no exception to that. Having said that, you still have to use the conditions in your favour. It is important that you hit the good areas.” Personally, for Holder playing at the WACA means a lot. “I made my ODI debut here and it means a lot to me. It was a dream come true for me. To be able to play for West Indies against Australia here in my first game, it just touched me a bit. Being back here now I would just like to improve on my performance from the last time and I'll do everything in my power to enhance our chances of winning.” West Indies sure need to put forward their A game when they face India. After all, India boasts of an enviable batting line-up that has put up commendable performances thus far in the tournament. Holder was wary of India’s strong batting line-up. “They have good players who are in form. Virat has been phenomenal for them over the last few years. They have Shikhar Dhawan who has been in some form, and then you have players like Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni. But, cricket is played on a day, and I back my bowlers to execute their plans, putting them back and setting them on the back-foot. We have planned for them and we are just looking to execute our plans tomorrow.” Holder also backed his batsmen to come good. “We have got quality batsmen. We have got in excess of 300 on three or four occasions. Each game somebody has stepped up and taken the onus on themselves. We have Marlon Samuels who has done a good job, and Jonathan Carter who is coming into his own. On the whole, it is important that we beat India first and move into our last preliminary game against UAE.”