West Indies skipper Roston Chase believes that the team’s maiden series victory in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2027 cycle could be a “stepping stone” for their future in red-ball cricket.
After defeating Sri Lanka in the first Test and holding on for a tie in the second, the Caribbean squad won its first Test series after eleven series. They also won their first series against Sri Lanka in twenty-three years.
Unlike previous campaigns where the bowling unit often carried the team, West Indies’ batting was critical to the series’ fate. Roston Chase highlighted the hitters’ development with the bat and praised them for giving the bowlers tough totals to defend.
The West Indies scored a massive 626/9 in the first Test, with Amir Jangoo scoring 233 and Chase almost missing a double century with 194. They amassed an amazing 401 runs for the fifth wicket as a team.
A pivotal 242-run partnership between Justin Greaves (180) and Shai Hope (112) helped the West Indies secure a draw and win the series in the second Test.
“Yeah, the batting is something that we put a lot of emphasis on because it was mostly the bowling that was standing up for us in the majority of the games,” Roston Chase remarked following the second Test.
Roston Chase said, “It’s something that I really put forth to the guys that we need to be able to at least give the bowlers something to work with and they raised their hands tremendously in this series,” according to Cricinfo.
“I think this is a stepping stone for us going forward,” the captain said, acknowledging the significance of defeating Sri Lanka, a team that has historically posed issues for the West Indies in Test cricket.
In particular, we get down and prepare for this Test Championship. Last year, we said that it would be difficult, and it was. However, we stated that we anticipate dominating and winning the two home series in particular this year.
Roston Chase concluded, “I just want the guys to move on from this and let this be a stepping stone.”
“We had four hundreds [in the series],” Roston Chase said, expressing hope that the series win would pave the way for consistent performance in the current WTC season. We have scored hundreds in previous games, but these are huge hundreds, and we also convert them into large totals.
He went on, “It says a lot when two people get hundreds in two innings, not just one guy getting a hundred and us probably just getting over 250.
“Yes, I’m very excited, especially against a team like Sri Lanka, which we struggle to beat even at home and especially when we go away to them. It’s very difficult to beat them.” The West Indies will host Pakistan in a two-match Test series later this month.
It is therefore rather satisfying to come here and defeat them—just not physically, but in a way that is dominating. Additionally, we haven’t defeated them in twenty-three years. It feels fantastic to begin the year with this series victory, especially considering the year we had last year.”
Pakistan is currently ranked lower than the Caribbean team in the WTC standings, but they are still in the running for a final spot despite having played fewer games thus far in the cycle.
