SHARJAH // Jason Holder said he wants to build a West Indies side their fans can believe in again, after their five-wicket win over Pakistan at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
The victory, brought about by Kraigg Brathwaite’s brilliance with the bat, and Holder’s five-wicket haul in the second innings, was their first away win against Pakistan in 26 years.
Even though it was their only success from nine attempts on tour, Holder asked long-suffering West Indies supporters to stick with his side.
“My message is simple,” Holder said. “Stay with us and keep supporting us. One Test match victory doesn’t make us a world-beating side, but we have showed people that we can do it.
“We have what it takes. We have competed with Pakistan throughout this entire series. We fell short in Dubai, were outplayed in Abu Dhabi, but to finish the last Test on the winning side is a wonderful feeling.
“For the fans back home, and West Indies fans in general, just keep supporting us, keeping giving us that love, and hopefully this team can turn things around for West Indies.”
Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, had lamented the downfall of West Indies cricket when the hosts sealed the series by winning in Abu Dhabi last week.
After losing in Sharjah, though, he acknowledged his side had not afforded the West Indians enough respect.
“When you are the No 1 or 2 team, you have to play every match at certain standard,” said Misbah, whose side are No 2 in the Test rankings.
“But when you have longish series, you sometimes relax, and I think this is exactly what happened with us.
“We probably didn’t respect the opposition which is why we were troubled in early matches, and now in this third Test we made a lot of mistakes.”
pradley@thenational.ae
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