Abu Dhabi: Having stretched Pakistan to the last hour of play on the fifth and final day of the first Test before losing by 56 runs, the Windies have managed to gain much-needed confidence going into the second Test, captain Jason Holder believes.
“We are obviously very confident as we played a very good Test match in Dubai and it was very competitive. We had some great positives coming from that game and for me it is just about transferring it to this game. Abu Dhabi may be a fortress for Pakistan but we have shown that we can compete in this series and (remain) upbeat about this match,” said Holder on the eve of the second Test at the Shaikh Zayed Stadium.
“The mood in the camp is good as there have been some good things in the last Test match. We spoke about a lot of things and there was nothing to be disappointed. We are refreshed now and good to go here,” added Holder, who felt that his side needs to sharpen in the field and cut down on the no-balls.
“That no-ball cost us on that one occasion (Babar Azam caught behind). We need to improve on small areas in fielding and tighten up when we bowl and stick to our plans for a lot longer. If we can do that, the result will come,” added Holder, who backed his seamers who failed to make inroads in the first Test.
“The wickets were very good you know in the first Test and both sides have struggled to get the breakthrough with their seamers. Spinners dominated in the first Test match and in this situation you have to be a lot patient and only spinners can be a lot more aggressive,” said Holder, who also felt that Pakistan was heavily relying on Yasir Shah, who claimed seven wickets in the first Test match.
“Pakistan has a quality spinner in Yasir but they have inexperience in Muhammad Nawaz. They have been heavily dependent on Yasir and I think we coped with him very well. He was not that effective, even though it was a day five pitch. I think the more time we spent on that wicket the better for us and easier it became,” said Holder, who went on to reveal that his side had chalked out a plan to tackle veteran batsman Younis Khan, who missed out on the first Test on medical advice despite recovering from dengue fever.
“Younis Khan is a quality player and coming off from a double in his last innings in England. No doubt the calibre of player he is but cricket is played on the day and we have seen some footage of him and have formulated our plans. We will look to execute it,” said Holder, who revealed that he was not too bothered about the toss.
“Mostly the captains who have won the toss here have elected to bat. Only think in the last five or six Test matches the captain sent in the opposition. As usual many feel it is good to bat first and put runs on the board but we will look at the wicket on the day of the Test and take our call.”
