West Indies head coach Phil Simmons has made it clear that Test captain, Jason Holder is always in consideration for the T20 side.
Speaking to the media via Zoom yesterday, Simmons noted that a decision was made by the selection panel to leave out Holder from the three T20IS due to the closeness of those matches to the Test matches as well as his heavy workload on the build up to the tour.
“Jason is always in consideration for T20s. He has had two good years at CPL [Caribbean Premier League] and now he is having a good time at the IPL [Indian Premier League],” Simmons stated.
He added, “Jason always have a turn to play T20 and let me just clear it up a bit here, [the T20 series here, this is an odd tour, the T20 series finishes here two days before the Test match and being captain of the Test team a decision was taken by us as a selection panel, Jason would not be considered for that part and seeing that he is coming from the IPL now, he will have one chance to play the four-day game before the Test match.”
Holder, the number-one ranked Test all-rounder, came off of a positive CPL where he picked up 10 wickets at an average of 21.9 and an economy rate of 6.63. With the bat, Holder smashed 192 runs at a strike rate of 140 for the Barbados Tridents.
He was then unsold in the IPL but would later be brought in as a replacement for the injured Mitchell Marsh. The 29-year-old has since been transformed into a key player for Sunrisers Hyderabad, leading them into the semi-finals.
In six matches, he bagged 13 wickets, averaging 14.07 and has an economy rate of 7.62. With the bat, he has produced a few crucial cameos down the order and strikes at 144.73.
