In true sense, MS Dhoni is a leader: Jason Holder
Jason Holder feels that his stint at Chennai Super Kings was a well spent one as he learnt about the nuances of captaincy from none other than India’s limited overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
“MS is an influential figure. In true sense, he is a leader and I found that during my stint with Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League. As a captain, I have always looked upto MS’s leadership qualities for inspiration,” Holder said during an interaction.
Asked which qualities of Dhoni he would like to imbibe in his captaincy, Holder said,”The manner in which Dhoni handles pressure is exceptional. That is the reason he has achieved so much while leading a team with players from different countries. There is so much to learn from him.”
The 23-year-old Holder is one of three international captains that West Indies have currently.
For the record, he played for SunRisers Hyderabad during the 2014 IPL season but didn’t take part in the IPL due to West Indies’ international commitments.
While Holder enjoyed watching IPL from back home, he was happy playing the Test series against England during the window.
“I would only be too happy to be involved in IPL again but this time I had a different goal. I was trying to help the West Indies and solidify our position. At the international level, you will have good days and bad days but you need to have self-belief to perform,” said the tall all-rounder, referring to his match-saving maiden Test hundred against England at Antigua.
Holder was appointed captain last year during West Indies’ tour to South Africa replacing Dwayne Bravo and he said that he was neither weighed down by the pressures of the job nor by the presence of many senior players in the dressing room.
“During my first tour as captain to South Africa, my job was to assess the individuals. We needed to put some solid plans in place. I needed to understand how as a team we react to certain situations. I was an U-23 captain and the situations provided me with a challenging experience,” said Holder, recollecting the experiences of his first tour as captain.
The youngster also insisted that the “change of role” hasn’t changed his equation with the senior players as he still shares a very cordial relationship with them.
Holder will be representing Barbados Tridents in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) but currently his whole focus is on the West Indies’ home series against Australia, with the first Test starting in Roseau on June 3.
“Right now, my entire focus is the Australia series and after that I will think about the CPL,” the all-rounder made his priorities clear.
On the composition of the Tridents side that has players like Kieron Pollard, Justin Ontong, Shoaib Malik, Holder termed it as a “very balanced side”.
“It’s a side which has got good players and especially with guys like Pollard and Ontong, ours is a very good fielding unit,” said Holder.
