West Indies captain Jason Holder expects no let up from the formidable home team and said the visitors would be bracing up for a tough ODI series beginning here on Sunday. “It won’t be easy with India playing some very good cricket at the moment. They probably are the best one-day side in the world. We expect a tough challenge from them,” Holder said at the pre-match press conference.
“It’s a young side, a lot of unfamiliar faces. But it is an opportunity for them to showcase what they got.” The pace bowling all-rounder said the challenge in the batting friendly Indian conditions would be to get scores of 300-plus consistently. “We have not really been able to get consistent scores in excess of 300 which is pretty much a par score and a benchmark in ODI cricket of late. We have spoken this in our dressing room. We need to be hitting the 300-mark more often than not and be consistently doing it,” he said.
The conditions in India will aid a run feast and Holder said his side would have to target scores above 300. “No doubt, conditions in India will obviously dictate a run feast. A lot of times you got to be able to set your benchmark, maybe 320. That’s something our batters really need to look at. Consistency is one thing we need to look at, particualrly in our batting,” he said.
Holder will have the company of Marlon Samuels, the senior-most member of the side who will feature in his landmark 200th ODI on Sunday. “He’s (Samuels) been around for a while. He is one of our better ODI batsmen. He has done significantly well especially in the recent past. He’s obviously got a wealth of experience and thrives on competition. He is one of the most competitive players I’ve ever come across,” Holder said.
“There’s a reason why he’s playing 200 game tomorrow, because he’s done well. Hopefully he will pass the knowledge to the younger lot,” Holder said of the 37-year-old Samuels.
