Roston Chase praises Shai Hope for silencing critics after West Indies’ record chase against India

Roston Chase praised Shai Hope for shutting out criticism after his unbeaten 102 powered the West Indies to a record chase against India in the second T20I. Chase also discussed Hope’s fitness work and his own three-wicket bowling performance.

Ranchi: West Indies off-spin bowling all-rounder Roston Chase believes skipper Shai Hope does not get enough credit for evolving his batting and commended him for having the special skill of shutting out the noise after his unbeaten century inspired the visitors to a record chase against India in the second T20I on Friday night.

An in-form Hope hammered an unbeaten 102 off just 45 balls as the West Indies chased down India’s imposing 249/5 with six wickets in hand to level the five match series 1-1 at the JSCA International Stadium. Hope had previously led the West Indies chase down 353 by hitting an unbeaten 162 in the third ODI against India in New Chandigarh last week.

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“I think about Shai Hope, people underrate him a lot. But Shai Hope is a guy that he can blank out a lot of noise and just focus on what he has to do and I think that’s his special skill. Because when everything seems to be going wrong, he’s still out there giving his best and performing for the team,” Chase said to reporters at the conclusion of the game.

He also dismissed the criticism that Hope bats too slowly or plays for personal milestones and described him as an exemplary professional who works tirelessly behind the scenes.

“Everyone knows he’s great in 50-over cricket and still sometimes people don’t give him the credit. They always say he either bats too slow or he bats for himself. He puts in the hard work and he’s the ultimate professional. He tries to tick every box and do the right things all the time.”

He also revealed about the efforts Hope makes in the gym, which helped transform from a slow starter into a power-hitter. “He’s done a lot of gym work to make himself stronger in terms of hitting the ball over the ropes. He also practises a lot of range hitting to get in those strong positions.”

Speaking about the mammoth 120-run partnership between Hope and Sherfane Rutherford (84 off 37 balls), Chase said, “To chase 250 in any conditions, any ball in attack, I think that was a tremendous effort. I think it’s a record chase for us. It was just a great feeling and it came out in the celebration.”

On his own bowling, which saw him pick 3-24, with his scalps being Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Shivam Dube, Chase revealed that he changed his tactic after Sanju Samson smashed his first delivery for four.

“I told myself probably the wicket is a bit too good to be using the wicket consistently. So I thought I had to mix up in terms of using the wicket and then going for the yorkers as well.

“When they move, you have to be able to watch them as long as possible and adjust and move with them as well. Sometimes you have to take the stumps out of the equation and just try to keep them and not let them get too much room to free their arms and it worked out,” he concluded.