The premier West Indies allrounder has been used down the order as a powerhitter, which doesn't suit his style of play.
A lot has changed since West Indies ‘Carlos Brathwaite’ their way to a win in the 2016 T20 World Cup final in Kolkata. For starters, none of the leading protagonists of their triumph in India are making the trip to Australia, leaving the side woefully short on experience and depth.
Unable to sustain their six-hitting ploy against a wide array of opposition beyond that tournament, West Indies reach the shores Down Under as massive undergods, a significant transition from starting the 2016 edition as favourites.
Since the end of that event, West Indies have won only 32 of their 96 T20Is, including a solitary victory in a disastrous Super 12 exit at the 2021 event in UAE last year which virtually put an end to an era, with greats like Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo retiring internationally.
Over these six years, West Indies have struggled to retain their attacking ways with the bat and failed to paper over their bowling flaws. Going at a measly 7.97 runs an over while conceding an ER of 8.49 with the ball – a scenario that reflects on their horrible win-loss record.
The nullified impact of their much-backed powerhitting has brought home the importance of strike-rotation and manoeuvring the field as key skills missing in West Indies’ T20 game. In the recent 2-0 loss to Australia, they played out an alarming 108 dot balls over two innings in Queensland, a batting performance that typified their longstanding struggles.
That, in essence, makes their premier Test allrounder Jason Holder an important, albeit understated, figure heading into the T20 World Cup.
Holder, aged 30, has never warmed up to the role down the order in T20Is for West Indies, averaging an insipid 14.91 with a strike-rate of 121.20 over 32 innings, a healthy enough sample size and a record that makes you wonder why hasn’t the team management considered sending him up instead?
In what could be a two-fold plug: Holder’s promotion up to face spin in the middle-overs would not only give him more of an ideal entry point to the innings but also allow West Indies’ big-built powerhitters to play their games freely around him amidst greater solidity to the innings.
Holder may come across as a misfit in a side leathered with big-built six-hitters, but his value is reinforced by others’ struggles to successfully withstand their own facing attacks better than those West Indies tend to present to the opposition.
The tall right-hand batter uses his reach to very good effect in countering spin bowlers and is able to keep the field on its guard through rotation of strike. At a time when West Indies have been playing an extremely high % of dot balls while failing to retain or execute their six-hitting prowess, it makes tactical sense to have a batter specifically meant to cut those down.
Jason Holder can be the man for that job, having shown his ability to rotate strike and manoeuvre the field in the longer versions of the game. Since the start of 2018, Holder has been West Indies’ second-highest Test scorer with 1,353 runs at an average of 32.21. The right-hander has made six scores of fifty or more in this timeframe, including the best of 202 not out against England.
One can’t make Test match runs without boasting of some ability to withstand quality bowling, a trait that West Indies may look to use to plug their middle-order hole and cut down on the number of dot balls that continue to plague their whole game.
It may not be the surest means possible to overcome their persistent issue, but West Indies can try Jason Holder as a tactical punt in the short term to paper over some part of their batting troubles. Playing him in the middle-order wouldn’t just help counter the dot-ball plague but may also enable greater consistency at the other end.
Giving the experienced former skipper role clarity and assurance of his spot would be a fine star to the Calypso Kings’ T20 World Cup campaign. For what they have right now is a combination that neither helps maximise the batting talent of their premier allrounder nor helps the rest of the cast conjure up performances.
