ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja has showered praises on West Indies’ skipper Jason Holder for leading his side to a stunning win against England in the first Test of the three-match series.
West Indies pulled off a four-wicket on the final day of the first international Test at the Ageas Bowl since the coronavirus break on Sunday. The win gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in the series.
Ramiz credited the win to West Indies’ captain Jason Holder, who he said led his from the front.
“He had written an excellent script for his bowlers and took them along confidently,” Ramiz said on his YouTube channel ‘RamizSpeaks’.
The cricketer-turned commentator said that the West Indies remained a dominant side as they played a positive brand of cricket on all the five days of the match. “It is a very big victory for them as in the past they’ve not been able to win many matches in England.
“Probably they got this historic win because they’d arrived one month prior to the start of the series due to the COVID-19. They got plenty of time to get acclimatized with the conditions, which benefited them a lot.”
According to Ramiz West Indies players hail from different islands, who have a sort of rivalry, and hence there remains a trust deficit among their players too.
“But early arrival in England gave them a chance to sit together and get familiar with each other. That also enhanced their comradery.
“Then, I’m sure they’ll have also become spur on due to the ‘Black Lives Matter’ logo on their shirts. These all factors I think worked for them,” he added.
Ramiz said England had a strong bowling attack but West Indies’ got an upper hand on them at that front.
“England have a fancy bowling attack. Probably, they’ve got the world’s best fast bowling attack. They’ve highly talented pacer Archer, who is a great wicket-taking option. Similarly, they’ve Wood who bowls at 95 to 96 miles per hour. Then, they’ve Anderson, who is a king of seam and swing bowling. But West Indies did the wonders as they bowled better than them.”
He noted that the base of West Indies bowling was discipline.
“They bowled in the same area and did not run after wickets. They exhibited patience and waited for the inexperienced England batting lineup to commit mistakes.”
He said England batsmen committed mistakes both in the first and second innings. He lauded Holder and Gabriel for their superb piece of bowling. The former picked up six wickets in the first innings, while the latter claimed five-for in the second innings.
