Legendary Captain Calls Holder’s Leadership Into Question

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By Neto Baptiste

Former West Indies batsman and legendary captain, Sir Vivian Richards,

has questioned Jason Holder’s ability to motivate the players under his command as leader of the regional squad.

His comments come on the heels of the team’s exit from the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup in England with their latest loss coming against New Zealand by five runs.

Sir Viv, who had never lost a Test series as captain, said Holder was not aggressive enough in his leadership.

“You look at a Virat Kohli and you know that those other 10 players are going to be behind him because he is leading from the front, he is showing intensity; but I do not quite see that with Jason and as a young captain I think he should be motivated enough to try and show that energy. The way you walk, the way you go to your bowlers and explain to them exactly what you want and show that sort of intensity, but there just wasn’t any of that,” he said. 

Holder’s lack of dynamism as captain has been a topic of debate in recent years but has since come under the microscope since the team’s dismal run at the World Cup.

The all-rounder has also been accused of not taking the bull by the horns at crucial times, often taking the ball less than his other bowlers.

Sir Viv also questioned why bowling all-rounder, Rahkeem Cornwall, had not been included in the World Cup squad.

“I believe Narine would have been perfect in such conditions but we didn’t have any of that and I guess the only individual that could have fit that bill — regardless of his fitness or not — would have been “Jimbo” Cornwall whom, I felt, in conditions like that with his height and the pace in which he delivers the ball, that he has some of the strongest fingers you could find,” the former player said.

“He would have been, in my opinion, quite suitable to just change up some of the patterns we saw at times with the bowling because it was too one-dimensional and I guess we suffered because of that as well,” he added.

West Indies will next play India on Thursday before meeting Sir Lanka on July 1st and will round off their campaign three days later against Afghanistan on July 4th.

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