After the 3-2 series triumph over England, West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder was not just pleased with the team’s performance but was also happy to witness the strong bond of togetherness in the dressing room, something he had not seen before in his career.
"We ain't 100%, but we're building nicely," Holder said to his team-mates. "For me, this is the closest that I've felt a group be in a very, very long time. Honest to God, the energy I felt from the meetings… most contributions I've ever seen in a West Indies dressing room. Even though you might not understand a certain decision, everybody's still buying in with it.” Holder said.
“Tough luck to the guys who didn't really get the opportunity but they never showed it: I ain't seen a boy sulk. That says a lot about the camaraderie and the strength of the unit. I don't think it's a finished product and we've got to strive to be consistent,” Holder explained the situation further.
The all-rounder spoke about having a few days off before flying to India for the white-ball series. The tall pacer says “nothing is impossible” and they will continue to build as a team.
"We've got a couple of days before we start, start over, and then we go again in India. Nothing is impossible. We've got to believe that nothing is impossible and continue to be happy for one another's success and continue to build as a team."
Holder on Monday said that the squad's response from their shock ODI series defeat against Ireland was incredible. The West Indies lost 1-2 to a side missing their captain and coach after players testing positive for Covid-19. Holder said they really had pull themselves together after the Ireland series.
"It's been great after the start we had in Jamaica against Ireland - where everybody was really, really down and deflated - to see the way we've bounced back here against England," he told CWI's in-house channels.
"We really pulled together as a side. It's a great feeling: hopefully we can continue this on and keep building something special.
"I think we came together, closer. After that series we were shell-shocked, very, very disappointed, and we felt as though we let not only ourselves down, but the entire region. We had extensive chats and everybody had to do some soul-searching. Feeling the way we did after that series made us really pull together and come out with a big performance here in this series," Holder explained the turnaround after historic defeat.
Holder endured some difficult moments in the series especially during Saturday's fourth T20I when Moeen Ali hit him for four consecutive sixes, but he started and ended in style, winning the player-of-the-match award in the first and last T20Is. The tall seamer troubling the English batting with the new ball throughout the series. Holder's tally of 15 wickets was the most-ever by a bowler in a bilateral T20I series. He also became only the fourth bowler to take four wickets in four balls in men's T20Is.
West Indies will play a three-match ODI series and a three-match T20I series in India starting from February 6. The tour will begin with the ODI series being played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The T20I series will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
