Gujarat Titans Star, Yet To Feature This Season, Slams Selection Chatter: "Unnecessary"
Jason Holder has so far been overlooked with the franchise persisting with an overseas combination of Jos Buttler, Rashid Khan, Glenn Phillips and Kagiso Rabada.
Fretting about selection "consumes a lot of unnecessary energy" for West Indies' seasoned pace-bowling all-rounder Jason Holder, who insists he has moved on from expecting things to "fall into my lap" as he waits for his opportunity with Gujarat Titans. The 34-year-old, returning to the IPL after two seasons following a Rs 7-crore deal, has so far been overlooked with the franchise persisting with an overseas combination of Jos Buttler, Rashid Khan, Glenn Phillips and Kagiso Rabada. But following GT's 99-run shellacking by Mumbai Indians at their home in Ahmedabad on Monday could prompt a rethink with Holder providing option of bowling both inside the power play and at the death, and also donning a finisher's hat with the bat.
In an exclusive interaction with PTI, the tall Bajan spoke about remaining focused on staying ready for a call-up rather than get distracted by the outside noise pertaining to selection.
"For us, getting consumed with when to play, or who's to play, or if not to play, or if this person should be playing or not... to me, it just consumes a lot of unnecessary energy," Holder said.
"Your job as an individual player is to be ready -- just come in and do a job for the team when called upon. The rest of it is in our hands.
"So I wouldn't even get sucked into who should play, or where we should be working, or who should bat or bowl. It's just more or less about what is required for us as a team to win." Asked about his ideal batting position, he said: "Look, whatever position I'm needed in is ideal for me.
"Gone are the days when I would think that things will fall into my lap the way I want them to be... So for me, it's more or less about adjusting to what the team needs and getting the job done. Me, personally, I came here to play.
"And yeah, whenever I do get an opportunity, I really want to grab it with both hands and enjoy it -- enjoy the experience -- and help this team to win.
On his readiness with bowl, he said: "I've been bowling four overs my whole career, so I don't see it being anything different. But again, whatever the team needs, I'm just ready to bowl, come in and do a good job for them." "Your job as an individual player is to be ready... Just come in and do a job for the team when called upon. The rest of it is in our hands.
"So I wouldn't even get sucked into who should play, or where we should be working, or who should bat or bowl. It's just more or less about what is required for us as a team to win." Chasing 200 against MI, GT suffered a batting meltdown to be bundled out for 100 as their batters came in for a lot of flak.
The Shubman Gill-led side has now slipped outside the top five, with their net run rate (-0.821) the second worst in the table -- only ahead of bottom-placed Kolkata Knight Riders (-0.879) -- ahead of their away match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Friday.
"It's hard losing any cricket game. Obviously, we had a tough loss last night... a pretty big defeat. But the only direction that we can go from here is up.
"We've had some really good discussions in the dressing room around how we can get better and the things that we need to do to improve."
"So it's a matter for him to just stay true to himself, try not to panic, try not to get too consumed with what's going on. We know that a player of his calibre will deliver. He definitely will deliver." Last year, the promising WI talent quit the International cricket at just 29 years choosing to be a full-time freelance cricketer that sparked a debate.
But Holder refused to make any comment.
"You ran into territory that I don't really want to get into. That's beyond me." PTI TAP KHS
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Gujarat Titans
Jason Holder