‘We are going to take small steps and climb back up,’ says WI skipper Chase after drubbing vs India
Is a resurrection of West Indies cricket possible?
Roston Chase replied with a smile, “If I said no, I wouldn’t be a true West Indian…”
Having just lost a Test match to India by an innings and 140 runs, not many expected the West Indies skipper to be optimistic, but he remained positive about his team’s progression. “Obviously, we are down right now, but there have been times where we have been up and other teams have been down, and they have risen. So I would never say that a resurrection is not possible for us, but we are going to take some small steps and try to find our way back up the ladder,” he explained.
After a meek surrender to Australia in its previous Test outing, in June-July, West Indies reached Ahmedabad in advance, held a camp, but ultimately judged the Narendra Modi Stadium surface wrong. On a pitch that aided the fast bowlers early on, West Indies opted to bat first despite winning the toss.
The match went out of its hands right there.
But Chase had a different take. “I don’t think the decision was a bad one. We saw the wicket, although it had a bit of moisture, we still thought that it was a good wicket to bat first on,” Chase said.
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“But we didn’t start well and we never really put any partnerships in place. We never really got back into the game. We never put those partnerships together and we paid for it…”
In the first innings, West Indies scored 162, and followed it up with 146. “We had a poor batting display. There’s been something that’s been plaguing us for the past two series. We’ve not been able to at least bat 80 overs, bat a day, or even get at least 250 or 300 runs on the board,” Chase said. “So, anytime you win the toss in a Test match and bat and you don’t bat the first day, you’re always going to be behind the ball…”
One down in the series, West Indies will have their pride at stake when it takes the field at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi for the second Test, next week.
Published on Oct 04, 2025
