Holder leads Bajans with plenty to prove

WINDIES Test and 50-over captain Jason Holder will have a point to prove as one of the region’s best captains, when he leads the Barbados Tridents in the 2018 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

Holder, a middle and lower order batsman and fast bowler, did not play in the 2017 CPL as he was representing the Windies against England. The six-foot, seven-inch allrounder will have big shoes to fill replacing Trinidadian Kieron Pollard who led the Tridents to success with a title in 2014 and the final in 2015.

Things went sour the last two years which saw Pollard leave to join the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots this season. With one of their own now leading the franchise, the Bajan fans are hungry to see their team fight for the title again.

Speaking about his appointment as captain of the Tridents, Holder said: “I am delighted to be back at the Hero CPL for this season and I am really looking forward to making Barbados proud in 2018. We have a healthy contingent of local players in the squad this year and we are ready to make this a winning year for our home team.”

Holder, now 26 years old, will try to change the Tridents fortunes of late as the team shockingly did not advance to the playoffs for the past two years. Tridents ended the preliminary stage last year in fifth position among the six teams, winning just four of their 10 matches. In 2015 they disappointingly finished fifth as well.

Holder has shown his leadership qualities as the Windies Test captain, as the team has been improving over the last two years. Can Holder lead the Tridents to the 2018 title?

Holder may thrive under the pressure of being the Tridents captain. In 2014, when he was only 23 years old, Holder was appointed Windies ODI captain by the Windies selectors headed by Clive Lloyd. Less than a year later, he took over as captain of the Test team.

As an all rounder, Holder has had some top performances in Test cricket and ODI cricket, but he has not yet made an impact in the shortest form of the game.

In 74 T20 matches, Holder has scored 472 runs at an average of 13.48 with a strike rate of 125.53. In the bowling department, he has taken 56 wickets and his best bowling figures are four for 27. In Test cricket, his batting average is 30.26 and in ODI cricket he averages 25.75.

Holder has had some brief stints with Indian Premier League (IPL) teams Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad.