Former captain, Jason Holder reckons the team that churns out the runs will ultimately secure glory when West Indies take on South Africa in a two-Test series shortly in the Caribbean.
Holder was speaking recently with CWI on the sidelines and revealed, “I think it’s going to be a hard fought series,” while pointing out “I think this series will probably be won by the team who puts the runs on the board.”
Holder, the number one ranked Test all-rounder contended that South Africa’s batting is currently in a transition phase with the likes of AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Faf Du Plessis no longer in the fold. However, similar to West Indies, Holder believes that there are a few youngsters coming in and trying to make their mark.
On the other hand, both units have solid bowling attacks that have established themselves on the world stage.
“I think both bowling attacks are very solid, our bowling attack in the Caribbean has proven to be one of the best attacks, South Africa’s bowling attack with Anrich Nortje, [Kagiso] Rabada and [Lungi] Ngidi, just to name a few and [Keshav] Maharaj who does an outstanding job for them so it pretty much balances off itself the bowling line ups so my take is this series will be won by the team who makes the most runs,” Holder said.
A lot has changed since these two side last faced each other. In fact when they last played in 2014-2015, the two-Test series in South Africa was actually Holder’s second and third Test. He has since played a total of 47 matches.
In that last series, only four South Africans are in their current squad touring the Caribbean while West Indies feature three.
With a lot at stake, Holder is ready to bring his A-game in each department, admitting the impact victory could have on his side’s growth.
“Obviously I’m an all-rounder and I’m asked to make runs and take wickets so for me its whatever I can do to help the team win cricket games and this series is a very big one and important one for us…so I am really looking forward to this series, it’s obviously a big series for us, South Africa is a very good cricket side and I am personally looking forward to the challenge,” Holder said.
The 29-year-old noted that he is currently in good health both physically and mentally ahead of the series which gets underway on June 10.
