Southampton: West Indies skipper Jason Holder termed his side's four-wicket victory over much-fancied England in the first Test match of three-match series "a massive win".
"It's a massive win, it's a massive, massive win. To be England in England is not an easy feat. We were able to do it last time we were here (West Indies won at Headingley) in 2017 so we all know what the feeling feels like. But again, things have changed drastically since then and they're a massive, massive unit in their backyard so to start the series this well is very, very promising for us and we feel very proud the way we performed," Jason Holder said.
Holder was all praises for man-of-the-match Shannon Gabriel.
"What Shannon has done in this game is nothing surprising. Shannon is one of those guys that just keeps doing it you know. He has a big heart, he has a massive, massive heart and he's been through a lot," Holder said.
Holder further said, "He's been through a lot and he wants success so badly. His body hasn't held up I guess, in the way he would like in the past but to see him out there fit and running in and bowling fast for West Indies is always a pleasing sight. He deserves every bit of success he's had so far in this game."
Interestingly, it's the first time in 13 years that the Windies have won the opening Test of an overseas series. And when asked about the same, Holder said, "We want to win every cricket game we play. It doesn't often work that way but we strive to win every single Test match we step on the field to play. Yes, in the past we haven't started series as well and we've been always made to play catch up. but it was just really important that we started this series well. I think England missing (Joe) Root is obviously a big miss, he's a high quality player."
The second Test with England starts at Old Trafford in Manchester on Thursday.
