Sir Viv Richards delighted with West Indies' fightback in the 2nd Test

With a miraculous escape act which led to the drawn second Test against India at Jamaica, West Indies have managed to engulf Sir Viv Richards in delight. The swashbuckling icon hailed the fighting spirit shown by Jason Holder’s side in rebounding from an innings loss in the first Test at the stadium ironically named after himself.

Speaking to windiescricket.com, the 64-year old revealed that the second innings rearguard has filled him with hope and indicated a more promising future for the West Indies Test team.

Richards gushed, “This is a marvelous performance from this young team. I am really proud of them. They really stood up to the challenge and we should be proud of this kind of performance. They did not win the Test match but if we can see more efforts like this I am sure this team is on the way to very good things.”

He added, “They applied themselves and were rewarded. This should be great for them and it shows that they can play at this level. This has lifted the series and I hope it lifts this team as well. There is talent, there is fight and there is character in that West Indies dressing room and we saw it here today.“

One of the chief architects of the effort was Roston Chase who followed up a maiden five-wicket haul with an unbeaten 137 on the final day in only the second Test match of his career.

Hailing his all-round brilliance, Richards quipped, “My advice to him is to keep believing in (himself). He’s off to a tremendous start in his Test career with a terrific five-wicket haul and then a significant century like this which saved the match. He’s now being mentioned and respected where this is concerned with making a ton and taking a five-for. So, I urge him and the team to keep growing and keep believing in themselves.”

However, West Indies still trail the 4-match series 0-1 and would want to continue turning their fortunes around when the third Test begins at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet from Tuesday.