St John's [Antigua and Barbuda]: West Indies' Test skipper Jason Holder on Wednesday ahead of the first Test of two-match series against India said that the Windies side is confident of giving World Number one India in ICC rankings a tough fight.
"I think the mindset in the team is positive. The guys are upbeat for the challenge. We have played good Test cricket for the past couple of years, we have been able to put up some series wins. The guys know what is at stake, and it is just a matter of doing small things right," Holder told reporters.
"If we want to beat the top teams, we need to be up for the challenge. I am personally looking towards the challenge of playing against Virat, Ashwin. I think from a team perspective, we get the best out of ourselves when we play against the best, we tend to go hard at them," he added.
Ahead of the series, West Indies included former cricketers Brian Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan in the pre-series camp. Holder said that the duo has been helpful in providing aid to the side.
"Brian brings a lot of stature in terms of his career, of what he has achieved. In terms of the mental aspect, it was a situation where he came in and broke it down really nicely for us. Sarwan has been awesome in the dressing room, he was a bit more of a tactician," Holder said.
When asked about the batting unit, Holder replied that the batting lineup can come good collectively a bit more often, adding the batters can improve.
"I do not think we need to do something different from what we have been doing. Our success has come from being patient. As a bowling unit, we have shown good performances. When I talk about batting, I still believe we have not collectively performed well. We need to improve and hope for better performances," Holder said.
Holder, who won the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Test player of the year on Tuesday, said that he always wants to perform in a way that can make his team win.
He also gave his views on Rahkeem Cornwall, the spinner who has been included into the team squad for the series against India.
"It is all about the team for me. I just wish for showing performances which can make the team win," Holder said.
"Rahkeem has done well for many years in regional cricket. If he gets a chance in the playing XI, I hope he does well. He's a good fielder as he has got a safe pair of hands," he added.
When enquired about the team combination, Holder replied that the final playing XI will be decided on the game day after having a look at the wicket.
"Team combination will boil down to how the pitch conditions are. The last Test we played here, we went in with four seamers and it worked out fine for us," Holder said.
West Indies were not able to register any win in the recently concluded T20I and ODI series against India.
The Men in Blue outclassed Windies 3-0 in T20Is whereas they defeated the team from Caribbean 2-0 in ODIs.
India and West Indies take on each other in the first Test at Antigua later today.
