Jason Holder

Tall and lanky at 6' 7'', Jason Holder is a West-Indian all-rounder. Unlike many other West Indian all-rounders, Holder isn’t known for his express pace or powerful ball-striking. Instead, operating at just over medium-pace, Holder has made a name for himself as a wily seam and swing-bowler and as a technically sound lower-middle order batter.

Holder won the prestigious Lord Gavron Award in 2009, which is given to a Barbados Under-19 cricketer who's been outstanding on the playing field. A right-arm medium-fast bowler hailing from Barbados, Holder grew and learnt as a captain and player on the go, exhibiting an ever-improving temperament and progress in technical and tactical awareness.

Holder was a part of the 2010 Under-19 World Cup squad in New Zealand and was West Indies' leading wicket-taker with 13 wickets. Later in 2012, he was a part of the West Indies ODI squad for the Bangladesh tour, replacing an injured Tino Best. However, he made his international debut only a year later in 2013 against Australia. His exploits in the ODIs and T20Is impressed Chennai Super Kings, who signed him during the 2013 auction for his base price of USD 20,000. The following year, he was thrown into the auction pool, where Hyderabad purchased him for USD 125,000.

Holder, whose USP is to hit the deck hard and extract extra bounce, then became a regular feature in the West Indian ODI attack. He made his Test debut against New Zealand in the third Test of the home series. Though he only managed to pick up two wickets, he contributed with the bat by scoring a fifty in a losing cause. He remained on the sidelines for the subsequent two-match series against Bangladesh.

When the players backed out of the India tour in 2014, citing trouble with payment issues, the board axed Dwayne Bravo from the skipper's role and handed it to Holder. His first real assignment came in the away series against South Africa, where his captaincy came under scanner for allowing the hosts to put up 439 in the second game at Wanderers. Nonetheless, West Indies chief selector Clive Lloyd felt that Holder was the best man to lead the Caribbean side during the 2015 World Cup and he continued to do so till 2020, thereby also leading the Windies in the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

Although Holder copped severe criticism for his captaincy, the selectors continued to give him the confidence which worked wonders when the Windies toured England in 2017. Chasing a record 322 runs at Leeds, the Caribbean side surprised themselves with a stunning victory riding on significant contributions from Shai Hope and Kraigg Brathwaite. During the post-match presentations, Hope admitted that Holder reminded him of the feeling of claiming a hundred and cited that as one of the main reasons behind his dogged determination. That win at Leeds was also Windies first Test win in England in 17 years. The Windies eventually lost the series 2-1, but not before giving England a run for their money. Holder, the bowler, excelled leaps and bounds in that series which can be termed as the zenith of his captaincy career.

In 2019, Holder scored an unbeaten 202 in the first Test against England at home and the Windies went on to win that game by a massive 381 runs - their greatest margin of victory in terms of runs on home soil. Later the same year, Holder claimed his 100th Test wicket in a Test against India. While he constantly went in and out of the limited-overs setup post his captaincy stint, Holder made it into Windies’ squad for the 2022 T20 World Cup on the back of some impressive performance, including a hat-trick against England at home earlier that year.

Holder failed to be a consistent feature for any of the IPL teams he played for. Starting off with the Sunrisers in 2013, he featured in just 6 games that year and in just 1 the following year. He missed the 2015 season and was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2016. He failed to make a mark in the 4 games he played and it led to a 3-year absence. Coming back in 2020, he was bought by SRH again and this time he had decent returns - 14 wickets from 7 games. He was retained by the Sunrisers in 2021 and he did well again, picking up 16 wickets from 8 games. In the Mega-Auction of 2022, Holder saw his stocks rise sharply after he was picked up by the Lucknow Super Giants for INR 8.75 crore. Once again, his performances were decent - 14 wickets from 12 games. In 2023, he was bought by the Rajasthan Royals for INR 5.75 crore.