International cricket has returned after a gap of 117 days as England and West Indies started the three-match Test series on Wednesday (July 08) at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. Stand-in captain Ben Stokes is leading the English team in the first game while Jason Holder heads the Caribbean side.
Before the commencement of the match, cricket legends Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara discussed about the series during the chat on Tendulkar’s app `100 MB`. During the conversation, the ‘Master Blaster’ said that according to him, Windies skipper Holder is the ‘most underrated all-rounder’ at present.
“Jason Holder is the most under-rated all-rounder, because on the field, maybe you will look at Kemar Roach or Shannon Gabriel, but Jason Holder only when you look at the scoreboard, you realise that he has come in and taken three wickets,” Tendulkar told Lara.
“When he is batting, he has scored those crucial 50-55 runs when it mattered, he is an underrated player, but he contributes on a regular basis, he is a terrific player to have in your team,” he added.
Holder is currently the number one all-rounder in Test cricket. The 28-year-old has been at the top spot since January 2019. He has a career-best 473 points rating. Stokes, on the other hand, has 407 points and he is at the second position in the ICC Test all-rounder rankings.
Holder has played 40 Tests for West Indies, scoring 1898 runs with three centuries and eight fifties. He has also taken 106 wickets in red-ball cricket with 6/42 being his best.
During the chat with Lara, Tendulkar also heaped praises on Stokes, stating that the Christchurch-born would go down as one of the leading all-rounders for England.
“For Ben Stokes from what he has been through in the recent past to where he is today, it is a total transformation, and it can happen only to someone who is mentally strong. When I first looked at him a few years ago, I could see his body language, it was so positive and vibrant, and that energy is infectious,” the Mumbaikar opined.
“I felt that he was one of those players where in time to come you look back and say Ben stokes, (Andrew) Flintoff, Ian Botham these are the leading all-rounders who played for England. I really rate him highly, and his impact on the field is a major one,” concluded Tendulkar.
Meanwhile, Holder performed outstandingly well on Day 2 of the first Test against England. He claimed six wickets and went on to register his career-best figures.
