By Avenash Ramzan
Cricket commentator and analyst Brij Parasnauth believes opener Kraigg Brathwaite or wicketkeeper/batsman Denesh Ramdin should be leading West Indies Test team, and not Jason Holder.
During an exclusive interview with News Room Sport recently, the Trinidad and Tobago-based Guyanese shared his thoughts on the captaincy post going forward into the 2017 season.
Holder has been Test captain since 2015, but endured a tough 2016 where the West Indies had only one victory in eight games. That was accompanied by four defeats and three drawn encounters.
Holder was entrusted into the role at age 24, and his appointment came as a major surprise as he hardly commanded a place in the team and was now wetting his feet in international cricket.
Parasnauth believes it was a wrong move to appoint the Barbados all-rounder to the post, pointing out that the Bajan opener Brathwaite is a better choice from the current crop of active Test cricketers.
“The reason for that, he holds his position [in the team]. He’s the most reliable opener we have in the region. Jason Holder cannot command a place based on his performance. He’s a good guy- likeable, disciplined and dedicated- but you want performance and he’s not doing that with the ball so he becomes a liability and if you’re performance is not well you can’t speak to the other guys,” Parasnauth reasoned.
He continued, “Guys will turn to you ‘Skip what happen to you, you ain’t doing well’ and he will feel flat. So what we have to do? Choose someone who could lead and hold his position and the person to do that would be Kraigg Brathwaite.”
But while Brathwaite is Parasnauth’s pick from the current Test squad, he feels the best captain in the region is discarded wicketkeeper/batsman, Ramdin.
“Because tactically he’s [Ramdin] the best captain in the region among the guys who are available to play. I still feel he has a place in the team, but a lot of people saying otherwise. But I still feel Denesh Ramdin holds a place [in the West Indies team] because he’s still the best wicketkeeper, but he can also still hold a middle-order position,” Parasnauth posited.
West Indies have not had a stable Test captain over the last decade and a half with 12 players filling the role. From the start of 2000, Jimmy Adams, Carl Hooper, Ridley Jacobs, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Floyd Reifer, Darren Sammy, Ramdin and Holder have led the Test team.
Gayle and Sammy had the longest stints among the group, spanning three years, while Jacobs has the best winning percentage record, being successful in both his matches in charge. Since the turn of the century, West Indies have played 137 Test matches, winning just 27, losing 72 and drawing 38.
Sammy had the longest run of 30 matches, followed by Hooper’s 22, Gayle’s 20 and Adams’ 15. Holder has been in charge now for 12 games, winning one, losing eight and drawing three.
