In a major boost for West Indies, captain Jason Holder and ace fast bowler Kemar Roach were declared available for the second Test match at Hyderabad, slated to begin from October 12.
Holder was ruled out of the first Test at Rajkot hours before the toss, sending the visitors' team combination in jeopardy while Roach had to fly back home because of the sudden demise of his grandmother.
West Indies coach Stuart Law confirmed Roach's arrival in Hyderabad on Monday. “Roach is currently is resting up in Hyderabad. He reached India yesterday and has straightaway gone to Hyderabad rather than coming here for a day and then flying out with the team,” Law told Sportstar.
West Indies missed the services of both Roach and Holder in Rajkot as their bowlers failed to make inroads into the strong Indian batting line-up. Three Indian batters – Prithvi Shaw, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja – slammed centuries lifting India to a mammoth first innings total of 649, which set-up their biggest Test victory by an innings and 272 runs inside three days.
“To have someone of his (Roach’s) quality to come up with (Jason) Holder and (Shanon) Gabriel gives our attack a bit more strength (for the second Test),” Law said.
That both Holder and Roach have taken 81 of the 78 wickets for West Indies in the last 5 years proves their value in the side. Captain Holder, in fact, has been a prolific run scorer with the bat too. Holder has been the highest scorer from the Number 8 position in the world since his debut (June 2014). His 832 runs have come at an average of 28.68 and have included a hundred and four fifties.
With 0-1 down in the series and almost waiting for another one-sided affair in Hyderabad on Friday, West Indies would hope their two most weapons would provide the much-needed strength to them to put up a fight against the World’s No. 1 side.