IND v WI 2018: You never know what’s par score against India, says Jason Holder

Holder also reiterated that his team isn't feeling too disheartened after the loss in the first ODI.

Rohit and Virat simply ran away with the game against West Indies | AP

West Indies skipper Jason Holder has said that it is really very difficult to put a leash on the might of the hosts' batting line-up in these conditions and subsequently, it becomes a tough task identifying what can be a par score to put on the board batting first against India. 

The visitors were simply overwhelmed by the class of Indian captain Virat Kohli (140) and opener Rohit Sharma (152*), were the duo dominated their way through and amassed a massive 246-run partnership for the second wicket, helping India easily chase down a stiff target of 323 with 8 wickets & 7.5 overs left and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. 

It must have been a really depressing evening for the young and inexperienced West Indies and you feel for the absolutely admirable and respectworthy, Jason Holder. 

“Against a team like India, you never know what’s the par-score. In hindsight, 320 was probably a par score. At the halfway stage I thought we had a par score but we were probably 30 runs short,” Holder said in the post-match presentation and he, like always, choose to be positive, as his team did accomplish one of his pre-match aim of scoring above 300 in order to challenge India, “It’s good to see we batted all the overs. I still think there are a lot positives. Inexperience did show. It’s just matter of us learn quickly and correct our mistakes.”

Specifically, on Virat and Rohit, Holder added, “Only way out is to get them out, They are two quality players. I think we erred in giving them too many boundaries," and emphasized, "Up front we went to get wickets as that was the only way to put them under pressure. We were able to get Shikhar Dhawan early but at the end of the day both Kohli and Sharma played outstanding innings.” 

Holder also showered huge praise on young batsman Shimron Hetmyer for his terrific 106 and said, “Probably it would have taken us a bit further into the innings but still credit to the young player to get his third ton, Obviously he had a lean patch in the Test series. So it was good to see him get a score on the board."

"I am not too disheartened by the game today. Yes the game was taken away from us Kohli and Sharma," he reiterated, “It’s a matter for us to learn as fast as we can. Hopefully, we can get into their middle order a little sooner,” and signed off. 

(Inputs from PTI)

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 22 Oct, 2018

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