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India batsman asks to be considered for all formats of the game

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Aug-2019Nearly two months after announcing his retirement amid high drama, Ambati Rayudu has made a giant U-turn. According to the , the 33-year-old batsman has sent an email to the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) saying his decision to retire was an “emotional one” and that he was “willing to play in all formats of the game” again.On their part, the HCA want Rayudu to groom the next generation of Hyderabad batsmen, with chief selector Noel David going as far as to say that “he has at least five years of cricket” left in him.”I want to take this opportunity to thank Chennai Super Kings, VVS Laxman and Noel David, who have been very supportive during the tough time and are instrumental in making me realise that I have enough cricket left in me,” Rayudu wrote in an email to Prof Ratnakar Shetty, a member of the panel currently overseeing affairs at the HCA.”I am looking forward to a wonderful season ahead with a very talented Hyderabad team and help the team realise its full potential. I will be available from September 10 to join the Hyderabad team.”Rayudu sent out mixed signals last week when he stated his desire to play in the IPL. He is presently contracted to Chennai Super Kings.”It is great news for us. I still believe he still has five years of cricket and groom youngsters, which is more important for us. Last year without him, we struggled in Ranji Trophy,” David said. “Rayudu’s class and experience will prove to be very handy for Hyderabad and will surely have a major positive influence on the other players as he will be playing in all the formats.”Hopefully he carries on the good work and leads from the front and I am confident of Rayudu getting support from all quarters.”Rayudu announced his retirement after he wasn’t chosen as a replacement for the injured Shikhar Dhawan despite being named one of five stand-bys for the World Cup. He also courted controversy for a not-so-cryptic “3D” tweet aimed at chief selector MSK Prasad who had said that Vijay Shankar – the player picked ahead of Rayudu in the initial 15 – had three dimensions to his game, capable of contributing with bat, ball and in the field.Last year, Rayudu announced his retirement from first-class cricket to focus on his limited-overs career with the World Cup in mind. He played the last of his 97 first-class games in November 2017. Hyderabad finished seventh in Group B in the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy season.

da realbet： Arsenal's return to Premier League football over the weekend also saw a swagger return to their play as Mikel Arteta's men blew away Crystal Palace 5-0 to quash any premature talk of crisis.

da gbg bet： There was only one minor problem: none of the five goals came from their number nine, Gabriel Jesus.

This display and the Brazilian's pitiful three-goal return in the league this season have led to plenty of transfer rumours concerning top strikers such as Karim Benzema this month.

However, if the Gunners want to make a better decision regarding the future of their attack, then they would be better served signing another of the talented number nines that have been touted for a move to N5 this month.

Arteta looks to Germany to solve his goalscoring woes

According to the Mail Online – as per the Shields Gazette, Arsenal, Newcastle United, and Manchester United are all interested in RB Leipzig's exciting young striker, Benjamin Šeško, and could be set to battle it out for his signature this month.

The Slovenian international only joined the East German club last summer in a £21m move from Leipzig's Austrian sister club RB Salzburg, where he produced 40 goal involvements in just 79 games.

In Germany, he has become an essential part of Leipzig's first team, scoring seven goals in 24 games. As such, any transfer away will cost the interested parties a pretty penny, with Sky Sports Germany presenter Philipp Hinze reporting that the 20-year-old has a €50m – £43m – release clause inserted into his contract.

How Benjamin Šeško compares with Karim Benzema

So, the first thing to note is that Arsenal would be dramatically improved if they signed either striker and that, regardless of which one pulls on that red and white shirt, the fans are in for a treat.

That said, there are a few key reasons why a move for Šeško, who NXGN Football described as having "the speed of Mbappé" over Benzema, would be a wiser decision for the Gunners to make.

The first is their age. The Leipzig hitman is just 20-years-old, whereas the French legend has just turned 36.

While he could well keep playing for another couple of years, it is extremely rare for any top-level player, let alone a forward, to maintain their effectiveness in their late 30s and, according to The Athletic, a striker's statistical peak is age 27, almost a decade ago in Benzema's case.

The second reason as to why Arteta and Edu should swerve the former Real Madrid man is his output in the Saudi Pro League this season, as despite registering nine goals so far, he doesn't even make it into the league's top five scorers, and he is slightly underperforming his expected goals figure of 9.83.

Saudi Pro League Top Scorers 2023/24

Position

Team

Player

Goals

Expected Goals

1

Al-Nassr

Cristiano Ronaldo

20

20.52

2

Al-Hilal

Aleksandar Mitrovic

17

17.49

3

Damak

Georges-Kévin Nkoudou

14

6.44

4

Al-Nassr

Talisca

11

6.83

5

Al-Ittihad

Abderrazzaq Hamed Allah

10

9.11

All Stats via xValue

In contrast, the "prolific" Šeško, as described by talent scout Jacek Kulig, has scored seven goals in just eight starts in all competitions for Leipzig this season, and better yet, he has massively overperformed his expected goals figure of 4.6 along the way.

In fact, for a player who has had limited opportunities to show the world what he can do this season, the former Salzburg star's underlying numbers are really impressive, as he ranks highly on a number of critical forward-centric metrics when compared to other strikers in Europe's top five leagues.

Benjamin Šeško Scouting Report per FBref

Stat per 90

Percentile

Blocks

Top 1%

Non-Penalty Goals

Top 11%

Non-Penalty Expected Goals

Top 14%

Tackles

Top 15%

Successful Take-Ons

Top 17%

Total Shots

Top 23%

Moreover, at just 20, fans can expect his performances to only improve over time, and under the coaching of Arteta, and with teammates like Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli around him, feeding him chance after chance, his rate of return is only likely to increase.

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At the end of the day, both strikers would help the Gunners improve their effectiveness in front of goal, but if the club want to maintain their habit of intelligent planning for the long-term, then a move for Šeško over Benzema just makes so much more sense.

da pinnacle： Former Scotland international Alan Hutton has backed Celtic to sign a new goalkeeper this summer, offering a stronger backup to Joe Hart and replacing Vasilis Barkas.

The Lowdown: Goalkeeping outgoings?

da aposte e ganhe： The Hoops have enjoyed a superb season, lying on the cusp of another Scottish Premiership title, and Hart has played his part between the sticks.

The 35-year-old has started 32 league games, as well as five in the Europa League, proving that he can still perform at a high level.

Barkas has been linked with a move away from Celtic after struggling for playing time, so a new stopper could be required in the summer transfer window.

Bodo/Glimt ‘keeper Nikita Haikin is one player who has been tipped to come in.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/key-latest-celtic-updates-5/” title=”Key latest Celtic updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Latest: Pundit talks up new signing

Hutton, a pundit for BBC Radio 5 Live who of course spent some of his playing career across town at Rangers, was reacting to news from a Celtic source that they will look to replace Barkas.

He told Football Insider:

“I always think it’s a difficult one. Obviously, everybody wants to play but the goalkeepers are a specialised position.

“You want to push somebody on but if you’re second choice, you know you’re not going to play an awful lot. So you have to have someone in there with a really good, strong mentality. It can be difficult.

“Everybody needs competition. Joe Hart’s no different. I still believe he can play for a good number of years, he’s got a lot of football left in him.

“He’ll want that pressure on his shoulders as well so he performs at a top level. The only problem is you need to get somebody out, Barkas or Bain or whoever.

“You can’t bring in another keeper and be sitting there with four goalkeepers. The squad isn’t balanced. That’ll probably happen first and foremost but of course, they’ll need somebody in to challenge.”

The Verdict: Makes complete sense

A stronger deputy to Hart makes perfect sense going into next season, especially with Champions League football looking likely to return to Parkhead.

At 35, Hart certainly isn’t getting any younger, while an injury to him would require a good ‘keeper to fill the void left by him and not look overawed doing the job.

The money received for qualifying for Europe’s best club competition would generate more transfer funds, increasing Ange Postecoglou’s chances of bringing in a more-than-competent rival for Hart.

In other news, a pundit has dropped a ‘crazy’ Celtic financial claim. Read more here.

Jason Roy has come through a concussion test following a blow to the head while batting in the nets on Tuesday, but will be assessed once more before he is cleared to play in the third Ashes Test at Headingley.Roy sustained a blow directly on the stem guard when facing throwdowns from Marcus Trescothick. He was assessed both at the time – he was cleared to carry on batting – and again on Wednesday morning before training but will undergo one more test on Thursday morning before he is deemed eligible for selection.Jason Roy receives treatment after copping a blow in the nets•Getty Images

While he is thought highly likely to be declared fit to play, England will have Ollie Pope on standby should Roy display any symptoms of delayed concussion. If that happens, and Roy misses out, Joe Denly would be promoted to open the batting alongside Rory Burns and Pope would slot into the middle-order. Pope and Dominic Sibley were on unofficial standby during the second Test at Lord’s in the understanding that Sibley would come in for a top-order batsman and Pope for a middle-order batsman.In years gone by, it is probable the blow sustained by Roy would have gone largely unnoticed. But with concussions very much in the news and a growing awareness of the seriousness of the condition, the cautious approach taken by England here is likely to become the norm. Roy batted in training without any apparent discomfort on Wednesday.”I’m pretty confident Jason’s going to be fit,” Joe Root said. “He’s been monitored quite closely as you’d expect; there is a hugeamount of attention around concussion at the minute. He’s undergone a couple of concussion tests so far and scored really well. So as it stands I fully expect him to be fit and ready to go.”You can only make a change if it happens within a Test match not if it happens prior to it so, with that in mind, we will have to be absolutely sure Jason is fit and ready to go, but we are fully confident he will be.”

Without a doubt, Liverpool have enjoyed an incredible summer transfer window, with FSG spending like never before to establish Arne Slot’s dynasty.

The Dutch coach replaced Jurgen Klopp and won the Premier League last season, and he did so having welcomed only Federico Chiesa to Anfield for a £12.5m fee. Well, Chiesa only started one league game all season and is expected to depart in the coming weeks.

However, the Italian’s not the only one facing the exit doors this summer.

Liverpool's transfer plans

As Liverpool kicked off their pre-season tour with a 4-2 defeat to AC Milan, they could not call upon Luis Diaz or Darwin Nunez, with the respective forwards set to be sold.

While Liverpool have already spent £79m on forward Hugo Ekitike this summer (breaking the British transfer record to reel Florian Wirtz over too), there’s more to come.

We all know that Alexander Isak is on Liverpool’s radar, having informed Newcastle United of his desire to explore a transfer to Anfield. He did not travel with the Toon for their pre-season tour.

However, talkSPORT have now revealed that Liverpool have ‘signalled their willingness’ to pay for the Sweden international, who has rejected the Magpies’ proposals of a new contract. That comes amid rival interest from Al Hilal, albeit with Saudi Arabian officials believing that he ‘wants to join Liverpool’.

If Liverpool want Isak, they will likely have to break the British record once again, forking out some £130m.

Why Liverpool still want Alexander Isak

This would be a truly remarkable transfer. And it’s beginning to look more and more probable.

Isak, 25, joined Newcastle from Real Sociedad for £63m in 2022, and he’s now renowned as one of the deadliest goalscorers in the world, hailed by Sweden coach Jon Dahl Tomasson for being “the most complete striker” in the Premier League.

While Liverpool’s acquisition of Ekitike might make it feel like this signing would be redundant, this isn’t the case. The respective forwards are both technically sound, but bring different things to the table and could actually become an unstoppable partnership.

Ekitike, 23, is principally a central striker but is known for his pace and power, capable across a range of positional roles. As per FBref, he ranked among the top 10% of positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues last year for assists, the top 6% for shot-creating actions, and the top 4% for progressive carries and successful take-ons per 90.

Utilising these attributes, Ekitike could bring out the best in Isak, allowing him to focus more on his incredible goalscoring. There’s no question that the United man surpasses his prospective teammate in ball-striking.

24/25

42 (41)

27

6

23/24

40 (36)

25

2

22/23

27 (18)

10

3

The £120k-per-week Sweden native, moreover, has the wealth of Premier League experience, which could prove vital for Ekitike’s development.

With both players in Slot’s system, the coach can manage workloads and utilise the respective strengths of both to the greater effect of his ambitious Liverpool team. The sum is greater than the individual parts, after all.

Given that both strikers are so dynamic, there’s no reason why they couldn’t cohabit at the front of the ship for Liverpool, especially if Nunez is sold in the coming weeks.

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The Reds could lose a key man.

ByTom Cunningham Jul 26, 2025

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has revealed South Africa tried to stop fast bowler Kagiso Rabada from going to this year’s IPL, where he eventually injured his back and was withdrawn towards the end.Rabada, South Africa’s key strike bowler who has six wickets so far in the World Cup at 50.83, confirmed that there had been a plan to have him miss the IPL, but said it had not worked out. He was the IPL season’s second-highest wicket-taker, his 25 wickets one behind compatriot Imran Tahir, despite playing five fewer matches.After South Africa exited the World Cup with another disappointing defeat – this time to Pakistan – du Plessis was asked if he felt Rabada’s workload had been managed well. Since the start of last year, only Nathan Lyon has bowled more overs in international cricket than Rabada. If du Plessis could have had his way, he wouldn’t have had Rabada – playing for Delhi Capitals – bowling the additional IPL overs and instead been working on rehab and recovery.”I don’t think we’ll ever have a perfect answer for that because he’s probably biting on too much,” du Plessis said. “But we did try and get him not to go to the IPL; to try and stay and get fresh. That wasn’t the case of [course] and then when he went there, we were like, let’s try and get him back halfway through the IPL because it’s important, not just for him, but a few other players.”I mean, I spoke about it before the IPL even started, that it’s important that we try and find space to rest our three-format players, because they play all the formats all the time, and then IPL. So I don’t think it’s necessarily just the IPL, but it was important for a few guys to rest; and the fact that they didn’t meant that they came into the tournament not fresh. That’s not an excuse; that’s just a fact.”Rabada himself confirmed that there had been a plan to have him miss the IPL, but said it had not worked out. “That was basically just to rest up prior to the World Cup for obvious reasons like injury and being fresh for an important tournament.” Rabada said, during an interaction with reporters in the mixed zone on Sunday, after South Africa’s defeat to Pakistan.The plan to have Rabada sit out the IPL fell through, and an alternative couldn’t be worked out either – for reasons he did not reveal. “Well, the plan was to leave early but that didn’t work out – don’t ask me about any of that – but eventually I came back earlier as you might know.”ESPNcricinfo understands that Rabada was released by Capitals the moment CSA wanted him back. Scans for a niggle cleared Rabada of injury but CSA didn’t want to take any risks, and Capitals complied.Getty Images

Du Plessis went on to say Rabada’s pace has been down this tournament. The South Africa captain also said he couldn’t have rested Rabada in international series. To do so, you need a second line of bowlers. “That challenge we are going to have as a team all the time,” du Plessis said. “You can’t unfortunately go back with the national side and say to KG: ‘Listen, you’re going to rest for the next two series.’ He’s such a big player for the team; it’s a difficult thing to do.”You know, you need guys that can… you need three or four or five bowlers in the wings waiting, so you can have a bit of a rotation system. I mean, that was the plan with Anrich [Nortje] in the back-up and pipeline, and he got injured as well. So therefore all our pace is gone and there’s so much responsibility on KG to carry that load of being the lone fast bowler.”CSA, however, can’t compensate the players enough for missing the IPL the way Cricket Australia and ECB do. It is tempting to imagine if AB de Villiers would have retired in the first place had there not been an IPL to go to, where he actually said the IPL was “better than the World Cup”. South Africa also lost Dale Steyn for the World Cup as he could not recover in time from the injury he sustained playing the IPL ironically as a last-minute replacement. Steyn’s absence has also hurt South Africa, leaving Rabada to do all the striking work.”KG at the moment is feeling like he needs to do something, but it’s not happening for him; and therefore, you’re not seeing that same intensity when he bowls – or not bowls; or when he celebrates a wicket or when he’s going through after the over back to his mark,” du Plessis said. “Obviously Dale is a special bowler, and the fact that he’s injured, we can’t use that as an excuse. There’s enough good bowlers in our team to still be better than what we did today. There was a lot of bad balls bowled on a wicket that if you just bowled really good lines and lengths, it was tough for the batters to score.”Du Plessis said this is a challenge Rabada will have to find ways to get the better of. “You know, he’s a great bowler. He will be able to fix that. His career has been one that’s been probably just going up and up and up and up and up every time he’s played for us.”So this is probably his first stumbling block as a great fast bowler. So for him now, it will be to see how he responds, how he learns in this period and how he makes sure he gets better. Because he has been great for us, but now he needs to take stock of where his bowling is and then try and get better as a bowler.”Nortje had been ruled out of the World Cup in the first week of May itself with a thumb injury. Once the tournament started, South Africa suffered a blow when Steyn was ruled out too, and Lungi Ngidi hurt his hamstring in the game against Bangladesh which didn’t let him complete his quota of 10 overs. Ngidi further sat out three matches before returning for the clash against New Zealand, which was South Africa’s fourth loss in five completed games.GMT 1400 The story was updated to include Rabada’s quotes.

Ella Toone admits she was “in love with” Cristiano Ronaldo during his time at Manchester United and has a video message from the Portuguese “saved”.

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• England star started out in Red Devils academy
• Idolised Portuguese icon at Old Trafford
• Now an inspirational figure in her own right

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The England international started out in the Red Devils academy system before having to spread her wings at Blackburn and Manchester City. She returned to her roots, and the club that she grew up supporting, when they re-established a women’s team in 2018.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Toone has become the first player to pass 50 appearances for United’s women’s side, as she becomes an inspirational figure in her own right, but the Euro 2022 winner concedes that she was very much a Ronaldo fan girl in her younger years.

• WHAT TOONE SAID

  The 24-year-old playmaker has told of idolising CR7: “I always say it. He's probably had such an impact on my career, the way that I wanted to be and that was Cristiano Ronaldo. I wore his boots. I wore the No 7 shirt. I was in love with him at Manchester United and the skills that he did and the confidence he played with.”

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Despite being an international performer herself, Toone is yet to cross paths with Ronaldo. She added: “I didn't actually get to meet him. I did see him one time, the girls were all looking through the window going: 'That's Ronaldo!' He did send me a video once and I've got that saved in the favourites!”

Mauricio Pochettino says he expects to find out whether he will continue as Chelsea boss at the end of the Premier League season in a week's time.

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Pochettino's Chelsea future is uncertainBlues still have three Premier League games leftDecision to be made on Pochettino imminentlyWHAT HAPPENED?

Pochettino has endured a turbulent first season in charge of Chelsea which has led to speculation he could be fired. However, the Argentine has insisted he does not fear the sack if he is moved on after just 12 months in charge at Stamford Bridge. A decision is expected soon, with Pochettino admitting he expects to know what his future holds within the next week.

AdvertisementGetty THE BIGGER PICTURE

Chelsea have enjoyed an upturn in results in recent weeks to move into seventh place and have the chance of securing European football for next season. Co-owner Todd Boehly has praised the team's recent "beautiful football" in comments that suggest Pochettino could stay on after all. Pochettino signed a two-year deal at the club when he arrived in 2023.

WHAT POCHETTINO SAID

He told reporters: "We are so comfortable. In the way we are not comfortable is to put in doubt — like are you are talking — are going to be here or not here? First, it is not my decision because if the owners are thinking to change — yes, for sure in one week [at the end of the season] we will know.

“That’s an instability with which we are comfortable working. We are going to be very strong in our efforts to help. It’s true that in the last few months, like we were talking, that question has always come up. You need to kill the rumours; if that’s not true, if not, the rumour is there for a different strategy.

"If you ask, is it affecting me? It is not affecting me. Is it affecting the people working with us? I think yes because, in the end, you can kill the rumour and sack me, and that’s not a problem. It happens in a lot of clubs.”

Getty/GOALWHAT NEXT FOR CHELSEA

Chelsea travel to relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest next and then head to Brighton on Wednesday. The Blues' final game of the season is at home to Bournemouth on Sunday, May 19. Pochettino is then expected to learn if he has earned himself another season in west London.

The India captain on what it takes to tackle New Zealand in New Zealand, and how knowing the ins and outs of batting helps his captaincy

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jan-20196:59

Kohli explains how thinking like a batsman boosts his captaincy

India arrive in New Zealand a confident bunch. They’ve just beaten Australia on their home turf. But, perhaps, somewhere the previous bilateral ODI series they played in New Zealand will be at the back of their minds: played five, lost four, tied one. India captain Virat Kohli admitted the team was not at its best back then in early 2014, but he felt the knowledge gained then would provide a blueprint for success this time around.”We’ve seen a lot of things that happened in the last series in New Zealand, the patterns and the areas the [opposition] guys were looking to get us out,” Kohli said in Napier, on the eve of the first of five ODIs. “We were probably not an experienced side back then in terms of batting together. If you see the last three years or so we have evolved as a batting group, we are more aware of our abilities.”You see New Zealand have the ability to make the game high-scoring, so the key is to not panic when you see 300 posted regularly. You just have to back yourself as a batting group to get those runs or set a big target when you’re batting first. The last time we played we here we didn’t have that kind of composure, to be relaxed while chasing 300.”Kohli pointed out the importance of adapting plans to the relatively small grounds in New Zealand. “You have to be aware of the side boundaries being short on most grounds here, so we need to target the right areas. I think the bowlers require more composure here. Unless it’s a typical green surface, bowlers have to figure out the areas where they can force batsmen to hit so that they can get them out. The team that does that well ends up winning in a place like New Zealand, purely based on the dimensions of the field.”ALSO READ: Five reasons why New Zealand will pose stiffer challenges than AustraliaOn a day when he swept the ICC’s awards for 2018, he said that knowing the ins and outs of batting helped his captaincy. “You get a gut feel of what the batsman’s going to do because you put yourself in that situation and think ‘what is the shot that I would want to play to get myself out of trouble, or how so I see this game going forward, am I in the mindset of just knocking singles around?’ Then you place the field accordingly. If I’m wanting to go after the bowlers, you change the field before the batsman does it.”Being a batsman and captaining the side helps in that regard because you can premeditate at times what the batsman might want to do. That’s a massive factor. Every captain in the world would be doing that, taking that one step ahead.”

Fast bowler played full part with bat and ball on historic third day despite overnight bereavement

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Feb-2019

Alzarri Joseph in action during the second Test•Associated Press

Jason Holder dedicated West Indies’ stunning victory in the second Test in Antigua to Alzarri Joseph and his family, after the young fast bowler played on despite the overnight death of his mother, Sharon, to help deliver a 10-wicket victory over England, and with it, an unassailable 2-0 series lead.Holder once again led from the front with figures of 4 for 43, including the first-ball wicket of opener Rory Burns, as England shipped all ten of their second-innings wickets for 97 runs to leave West Indies to knock off a desultory target of 14 in the space of 13 balls.But, speaking at the end of a hugely emotional day, Holder admitted that the death of Joseph’s mother, who had been ill for some time with a brain tumour, had forced his team to come together and put on a show in support of their bereaved team-mate.”It’s difficult to describe the feelings,” said Holder. “We started the day with a daunting task, trying to push on our lead, and then we got the news about Alzarri’s mum so we all wanted to rally around one another and we wanted to do it for her.”Joseph, who had claimed the wicket of Joe Denly in the first innings with the first ball he had ever bowled in a Test on his home island, took a full part in the team’s warm-ups, and was then given a long and sympathetic ovation by the crowd when he came out to bat at No.10 in West Indies’ first innings. He scored 7 from 20 balls to help stretch their lead to a precious 119, with players from both sides wearing black armbands as a mark of respect.Joseph then delivered a searing seven-over spell to help devastate England’s prospects of a fightback, bowling Joe Denly with an inducker before having Joe Root caught behind on review, and also having Ben Stokes dropped at slip for what would have been a second-ball duck.”Alzarri was exceptional. It took a lot of heart for him to be on the field today, I think a lot of people wouldn’t have been able to, but credit to him,” said Holder. “The way he ran in this afternoon was exceptional and with a bit more luck he could have got three or four more wickets and could have put in a man-of-the-match performance.”I just want to say condolences to him and his family, it is a tough loss. I came here two or three years ago and visited his mum, she wasn’t doing well at that stage but fought through, so I felt it personally this morning when I got the news that she had passed away.”To see him in tears this morning was even harder, and we came together in the huddle and we just wanted to do it for him and we dedicate this day to him, his mum and his family.”It was up to him if he played. I didn’t want to deprive him of the opportunity to take the field. If he felt he could manage and take the field for the West Indies and perform then I wasn’t going to deprive him of that.”For sure I knew he wanted to do something special for his mum and credit to him, he held his hand up high and did an exceptional job for us.”Although the off-field news helped to galvanise West Indies on a crucial day of the series, the scale of their victory had been hard-earned by their efforts throughout the first two days of the Antigua Test and all throughout their win in Barbados.And Holder, who rose to become the No.1 allrounder in Test cricket on the back of his double-century in the first Test, said that a triumph of this magnitude was richly deserved after the manner in which the team had grown together under his leadership.”I think were hungry for success,” he said. “We’ve been together for a year and a half, two years, and we’ve done some exceptional things, so credit to the boys for sticking to the task.”I wasn’t in Bangladesh [where West Indies lost 2-0 before Christmas] but the boys had a really long hard talk in the dressing room, and it was really needed. We wanted some honesty and to touch on a few areas where we’ve probably shied away in the past.”It’s been an up and down journey, but one I’ve thoroughly enjoyed,” he added. “It’s been challenging but I’m not one to shy away from challenges, I’m proud of myself for the way I’ve stuck it through, because there’ve been some very, very tough days, but credit to my team-mates for helping me get through it. I can’t be here without them. They deserve the credit, and hopefully we can stay together in the years to come.”