West Indies may have gone down heavily against India in August to start off its World Test Championship campaign but captain Jason Holder believes the team can finish "fourth or fifth" in the points table by the end of the cycle. 

Holder took confidence from his side's nine-wicket victory over Afghanistan, not part of the championship, in Lucknow this week and felt there are good days ahead. 

"I think by the end of the Test Championship, I don't see it being impossible for us to be fourth or fifth in the world," the skipper told reporters. "That would be a significant achievement in a two-year period. We've got some tough series coming up."

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"We've got England, then South Africa coming to the Caribbean, then we've got New Zealand… all good cricket sides. But I don't think it's beyond us to beat them."

"We've just got to make sure we keep building and developing. Once we do that, we can compete with any side in the world. A realistic target in two years would be to be ranked three or four in the world."

Off-spinner Rakheem Cornwall played a massive role in the win against Afghans with figures of 10/121, including a seven-wicket haul in the first innings. Cornwall's performance, alongside centurion Shamarh Brooks, perhaps justified the debatable call to bowl first after winning the toss from Holder, who himself contributed five scalps in the game. 

"We did expect the spinners to play a heavy role in this game, but with the new ball, we probably expected a little more from the fast bowlers," he said. "As the ball got older, I felt it did a little bit more. Their openers played well and pretty much saw off the new ball."

"Our spinners really came into effect with the harder ball, so I think it all worked out the way it was supposed to. Credit to Rahkeem [Cornwall]."

"He bowled an exceptional spell in the first innings and then backed it up really well in the second innings, supported well by the other bowlers."

Holder has previously been guilty of erring on the defensive side and opting to bowl when he could have made the task easier for his inexperienced team by batting first. "I don't regret the decision at the toss," he, however, said. "In the end, we played a really good cricket game, and we were clinical. I asked the guys to make sure we don't leave any stones unturned."

"Probably would have liked a little bit more in our first innings in terms of our batting, but having said that, we had a lead of 90. I think leads win games. Once you have a hefty lead, it puts pressure on the opposition."

(Inputs from ESPNcricinfo)