West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder has urged his side to show more grit in the remaining ODIs against India after an insipid batting display in the first game. Holder, whose half-century propelled West Indies to 176 in Ahmedabad in the opening ODI, advised the Windies batters to dig deeper. The visitors lost the first ODI by six wickets.
The tourists succumbed to 176 after Team India captain Rohit Sharma opted to bowl first. None of West Indies' top six passed 20 runs, with skipper Kieron Pollard falling for a golden duck. Holder's 71-ball 57 rescued them from embarrassment after India had reduced them to 79-7 at one stage.
Holder rued soft dismissals in the West Indies innings and urged the batters to show better application. The Barbadian hopes to level the series in the second ODI.
"We just got to put a bigger prize on our wicket, too many soft dismissals in the innings today. The pitch was a little difficult to start off but more or less we still got to dig a little-bit deeper, put up a much better fight. We got a couple of days off and come back stronger," the 30-year old said, as quoted by Times of India.
The 30-year old struck four maximums in his half-century and added 78 runs with Fabian Allen. However, he could not create inroads with his bowling, conceding 29 runs in five overs without picking up a wicket.
"Fabian is a very capable batter" - Jason Holder
He went on to praise Fabian Allen's batting ability but felt the all-rounder perished at the wrong time. The former West Indies ODI skipper thinks they could have posted a better total had the partnership lasted longer.
"It was a clear cut situation where we needed to dig deep and spend time. Fabian is a very capable batsman, he is one of those guys who can strike really well, when he gets in. So, I just try and give him that confidence and we tried to build a good partnership, it is unfortunate when he got out, had he gone a little longer and we build a partnership little further, we could have been in a real good position to finish the innings off nicely," he added.
India's wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal won the player-of-the-match award. He returned figures of 9.5-0-49-4. Washington Sundar provided the perfect support, claiming three wickets.
The second ODI is scheduled for February 9 and will be played in Ahmedabad.
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