New Delhi [India], October 14 : West Indies Test skipper Roston Chase found encouraging signs in his team's performance against India in Delhi, even though the visitors went down by seven wickets, as per ESPNcricinfo.
Shai Hope and John Campbell notched up centuries, the first two for West Indies in 2025. The team also batted for over 80 overs in both innings, a significant improvement considering they had struggled to reach that mark throughout the year. These performances came against a strong Indian bowling attack that included Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja.
"Yeah, I think this is the kind of fight that I wanted to see from us, from matches before", Chase said at the post-match press conference, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
"So, I think this is a stepping stone, a building step for us to go forward and improve as a Test-playing nation. This is a performance that I think will give us the confidence and boost us in terms of that belief that we can do it against proper Test-playing nations," he added.
"I just want to see the guys continue in this vein and don't let us go back to those ways. Even if it's for us to lose, we have to lose in a good way. In a positive way, where we can have a lot of positives coming out of the game," he noted.
West Indies toured India without two of their top fast bowlers, Shamar Joseph and Alzarri Joseph, who were sidelined due to injuries. In the end, it was not the bowling that let them down. Chase acknowledged that the team's batting needed to improve if they were to secure their first points in this new cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC).
"I think where we could improve mainly is our batting," Chase said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
"I think that's what let us down for the last two series. I think we have a good bowling attack, we had a few injuries. I just think that once we can put good first-inning totals on the board, we will be able to fight for some wins in the Test Championship," he added.
"When a lot of our players come into the international level, they play like 20 first-class games, 15 first-class games," Chase said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
"While other teams, when guys come into international cricket, they have like 80 first-class games, 100 first-class games," he added.
Domestic competitions play a crucial role in helping batters learn to build big innings and sustain their performance over long periods. West Indies, however, have had to create success without this vital foundation. This partly explains why they have managed sporadic wins like against Australia in Brisbane and Pakistan in Multan but have struggled with consistency.
"So for us, it's always learning on the job," Chase said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
"So if a guy can get a little longer run (playing Test matches) so that he can adjust and adapt to this level and see what it takes for him to improve and to be consistent at this level, I think that's good. And I just think that the fight that we showed in this last game will, as I said, give us that belief and that confidence to know that we have what it takes to perform at this level," he added.
One positive takeaway for the West Indies on this tour was allrounder Justin Greaves, who ended the series with an unbeaten 50 from No. 7, displaying solid skill against India's spinners.
"Yeah, well, actually, if we had batted first, he (Greaves) would have batted at No. 6," Chase noted.
"But obviously him being the allrounder, bowling allrounder, bowling many (14 out of 134.2) overs first, we just wanted to give him some rest. So we just put him at No. 7. But yeah, I think he's a capable batsman. I know him for a long period and I personally think his batting is better than his bowling," he said.
The West Indies' next Test is scheduled against New Zealand in December. Chase admitted that the first year of this WTC cycle has been challenging for his team but expressed hope for better outcomes in 2026.
"And I think that we had a chat and this first year in the cycle, we always know it was going to be tough with opposition like Australia, India and then we go to New Zealand. But I think that once we learn from what we've done in those series and take it into the next year where we have guys like Sri Lanka and Pakistan, guys that we are closer to in the rankings, I think that we can be more competitive against those once we learn from these games," Chase noted.
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