West Indies skipper Jason Holder's fifer, a silver lining

WI captain Jason Holder celebrates dismissing India's Virat Kohli yesterday

Skipper Jason Holder earned another milestone in his Test career, but his efforts couldn't inspire the West Indies who suffered their fourth successive defeat on Indian soil and seventh Test series loss to India in a row.

While the opening Test in Rajkot lasted barely two-and-a-half days, the second Test ended at the end of Day Three. That was the only minor difference in the script. Holder, who made a comeback after an ankle injury, though, continued to shine, with 5-56 yesterday. He became the first WI pacer to bag a five-wicket haul in India since Kenny Benjamin's fifer at Mohali in 1994.

This was Holder's fourth five-wicket haul of the year - the most by any bowler so far. "I feel pretty good at the moment. Hard work does pay off. The start of my Test career was pretty difficult. Wickets were difficult at that time. I always had faith at that time and belief," he said.

After claiming the wickets of KL Rahul and Virat Kohli on Saturday, Holder was in devastating form yesterday as he orchestrated India's collapse. The hosts lost five wickets for 25 runs at the start of the day. Holder sent back Ajinkya Rahane (80) and last match's centurion Ravindra Jadeja (0) in one over. A few overs later Shannon Gabriel (3-107) removed another set Indian batsman Rishabh Pant (92) before Holder disrupted Kuldeep Yadav's furniture to complete his five-wicket haul.

India managed a slender lead of 56 runs, thanks to injured Shardul Thakur's brave batting that helped R Ashwin score 35. Holder was upset with his team's batters. "We've got to look at ourselves in the mirror and see exactly how we can rectify the problem as soon as possible. We can't fault the pitches [here]. We've just got play smart and better cricket."

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