2nd Test: West Indies’ Batters Need To Get That Start And Kick On To Be Fine, Says Skipper Chase

2nd Test: West Indies’ batters need to get that start and kick on to be fine, says skipper Chase (Image Source: IANS)

Arun Jaitley Stadium: Ahead of the second Test against India starting at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday, the West Indies find themselves under pressure for both on and off-field reasons. In their crushing defeat by an innings and 140 runs in Ahmedabad, the West Indies failed to cross 200 in either innings, which collectively lasted just 89.2 overs.

That led to batting legend Brian Lara publicly questioning the current team’s hunger to represent the Caribbean and expressing pain over the decline of a side he once led with distinction. With funding issues and talent drain to franchise leagues also lurking behind, one is hoping for the side from the Caribbean to put up a fight and conjure up an improbable turnaround in New Delhi.

Skipper Roston Chase, who cut a sad and embarrassing figure after the loss in Ahmedabad, believes the solution lies in getting good starts and kicking it on to be in their batting returns. For a team low on confidence and facing global scrutiny, this simple advice from Chase offers a chance to reset and challenge the formidable Indian team.

"I don't think the guys are lacking confidence. But it's just to get that one score, to get that start, to then kick on from there - I just think once you obviously get that good innings or that hundred or that big fifty, that then gives you the confidence to know that I can actually do it.

“But I think everyone is confident and when you get out there, and you don’t start well as a batting unit and the pressure is on - it's for us to soak up that pressure as batters, and still find a way to score and put back the pressure on to the Indian bowlers. So I just think that is the biggest challenge for us. I don't think that we're not confident. I just think that we just need to get that start and kick on and we'll be fine,” said Chase in the pre-match press conference on Thursday.

It also helps Chase that he spoke to Lara, Sir Viv Richards and Sir Richie Richardson at a team event on Wednesday and will discuss playing eleven dynamics as well as pitch’s nature later after their practice session is over on Thursday. “They basically said the same thing - they just told me to keep believing that obviously we're down right now, but it has to change at some point.”

“The change can start from now, but it starts with the belief and the mindset of each and every player. It’s just to keep motivating the guys that we can still play some positive cricket and change it around and then don’t fall from that moment,” he said.

Asked why the younger crop of batters aren’t able to sustain batting for a longer period in Tests, Chase said, “I can't really speak for anyone, but for myself I just think it's a matter of confidence and continuously playing quality first class cricket and so on - just that know-how of going out there and facing good attacks for longer periods.

“Obviously try to improve on faults that you may have picked up early on in your career. When you first start, no one really knows you and then obviously you play a couple of games and then people obviously see your weaknesses and try to exploit them. So it's just for the players to just let me try to improve on those weaknesses from as early as possible, that's it.

“So it's just to stay positive at the crease and always look to score. Even though it's Test cricket, I don't think that you can just go out there looking to survive. Obviously, when you start, you'll be a little more tentative and probably a bit of nerves to start. But once you get past that, I just think it's to stay in the now and keep that hard focus for longer periods.”

Chase shot into the Indian fans’ imagination in 2016, when his gritty 137 not out helped the West Indies get an improbable draw in Jamaica. The all-rounder has come to India before, and feels better about his batting in Tests, though he lamented his early fall in Ahmedabad.

“I feel good at the crease. Obviously in the first game I was looking and feeling good in the first innings and I got a good delivery. But I still thought I could have played it better. But as I said, I'm feeling good after coming off some good form in white-ball cricket against Pakistan and going into the CPL and having some good performances there.

“But it's Test cricket, it's a different format so you have to bat for longer periods. So that's where the challenge comes in now. Rather than batting for 100 balls, you probably have to bat for 200 balls.

“They say to make a test century is four sessions - so it's just digging deep for those four sessions and trying to stay in the now and not what has happened before in terms of a ball before or the over before. I just think staying in the present is my biggest challenge for me right now. So that's just something that I have to cope with.

“You have to play each delivery on merit, just stay in the present and play the ball on merit. Play as per what you see and not what you think. I think that led to my downfall in the last game. was playing what I thought would happen rather than what I saw,” he said.

Quizzed on his take around the hunger to play for the West Indies diminishing due to the white-ball cricket boom, Chase stated that he will always look to give it all for the men in maroon in any format of the game.

"Red-ball is the foundation. If you can play red-ball cricket, you can then transition into any other format. But the other way around - white-ball to red-ball - that's harder. All the legends of cricket have been made from red-ball cricket. It's the ultimate test and the ultimate challenge for any cricketer.

Quizzed on his take around the hunger to play for the West Indies diminishing due to the white-ball cricket boom, Chase stated that he will always look to give it all for the men in maroon in any format of the game.

“I gave up my chance to play franchise cricket, and I'm taking up the captaincy role now, which is a big step. So, that just goes to show that I want to be here and want to play for the maroon. I will always give my all for the maroon,” he concluded.

Article Source: IANS