WI skipper Chase banks on 'calm' leadership to steer team against Australia
Bengaluru, Jun 23 (PTI) Roston Chase has two immediate puzzles to solve — find his groove in Test cricket and tame Australia in his first series as the new West Indies captain but the Bajan is confident of achieving those twin targets with his 'calm style' of leadership.
Chase is coming back to Test cricket after a hiatus of two years and his first assignment is against World No. 1 team Australia in a three-match series at home starting Wednesday.
"I've never captained a senior team in terms of the West Indies team or Barbados team (in Tests). But I've captained eight teams in the West Indies before. I think I'm a good leader. Obviously, I'm not perfect. I'm still learning,' said Chase during an interaction facilitated by FanCode, the official broadcaster for West Indies.
But Chase was confident of exploring into his limited experience as Windies skipper in white-ball formats, and some early days captaincy.
'I did most of my captaining in my early days like school level and local divisions. I think I have a calm style (as captain). I really know how to bring out the best in the players that I have,' he added.
The 33-year-old revealed that he had a conversation with head coach Darren Sammy ahead of taking over as West Indies captain from Kraigg Brathwaite.
'The captaincy conversations that I had would have been with the coach, Darren Sammy, and Miles Bascombe from the board. I've been out for two years, but after Sammy approached me about coming back because I always wanted to come back and play Test cricket.
'I was exploring the white ball and the franchise cricket for a bit. And he asked me about coming back and I thought about it and I ended up making the decision to come back,' he said.
Chase said he was 'very excited' to take up the new role, and said he was not ready for it last year.
'I was very excited to get the captaincy. I mean, it is a very prestigious job. One that many greats before me have done. So, it was a very proud moment for me when I got the news.
'I was asked in 2024 about coming back. But at that time, I was still finding my feet and trying to get into the franchise leagues. So I wasn't quite ready and had the time or the availability to come back into the Test arena.
'But after I had the conversation with Sami and Bascombe, I decided that this was the right time for me to come back,' he noted.
Chase, who has 2265 runs from 49 Tests with five hundreds, said the playing against Australia does not carry any extra pressure.
'I wouldn't call it pressure. They're obviously the number one team in the world. We're just looking to go there and play our best cricket, execute the plans that we spoke about in our team meetings and the data that has been presented to us.
'So, we're just looking to go there and give a full 100 (per cent) effort and play some hard cricket,' he signed off.
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