India vs West Indies 2016: Jason Holder blames poor execution for innings defeat against India

Defending the West Indies’ team selection for the first Test against India, skipper Jason Holder blamed poor execution from the players for the innings defeat against the visitors at Antigua. According to the 24-year-old, the players let down the home crowd in all three departments of the game and called for his young side to put in a more collective effort in the three remaining Test matches in the series.

"In hindsight, you can say a lot of things," Holder told the media West Indies' innings-and-92-run loss inside four days against Virat Kohli’s side. "The combination we played had four bowlers and an allrounder in Roston Chase, who bowls some off spin. But execution is the name of the game. I don't think we executed well enough."

"To be honest, myself and Carlos are going up to a certain point in terms of what our roles are, bowling areas together and pick up one or two wickets," he said. "But if runs are leaking from both ends, primarily from the other end, it makes cricket a little easier for batsmen. Having said that, we tried to get some wickets. But it just didn't come together. There is no doubt we need to take some wickets going forward into the next Test match.”

Holder praised his Indian counterpart, who got his maiden first-class double century during the Antigua Test as well as Ravichandran Ashwin, who registered his third century in the format against the Carribean side, but admitted that his bowlers and fielders could have done a lot better.

“You must give the Indian batsmen credit. Kohli and Ashwin played well. We put Ashwin down. Had we taken that chance you never know [what] the game could have brought. It's cricket again. Just need to hold our chances in terms of Carlos, me and other bowlers. Just make sure we chip in," he said.

"In cricket, it's down to execution," he said. "We need to execute as bowlers. [In earlier matches], we have played five bowlers. To me, in this day and age, you need an extra bowler. But, having said that, it still boils down to execution. You can play five bowlers, you can play four bowlers, but if you don't execute at the end of the day you will still be at the first stage."

Holder also expressed his unhappiness at the batsmen who failed to push on after decent starts, both individually and in partnerships.

"We tend to get 20-30-run partnerships but haven't been able to convert it to 50 and then onwards," he said. "Test cricket is about occupying the crease and spending time, but we never showed up for long periods. Some players got starts but were not able to kick on. It's important for one of the top four batsmen to actually set the tone.”

"In the first innings, Kraigg Brathwaite did a decent job of it, but we were not able to string together partnerships upfront and set up a good foundation for a good first-innings total. And we were playing catch-up from there. To be fair, they have to carry the demands of this young batting side.”

“Unfortunately, Bravo didn't get any runs in this Test. Marlon showed some form in the second innings. Important for those two guys to carry the batting and lay the foundation. But I couldn't agree more with you that the onus is on them. Having said that, we have more than enough capable batsmen," he added.

Holder is hopeful that his young side come up with a much better showing in the second Test which begins on Saturday.

“I think we need to come up with a strong collective effort. As I said we just need to execute, stick together, look at our weak areas, strengths as well and try make those stronger. In terms of the weaker areas, just tighten up on them," Holder said.