“Welcome to the club”: Lasith Malinga commends Jason Holder for performing double hat-trick in Barbados T20I

Lasith Malinga commends Jason Holder: The former Sri Lankan captain welcomed the former West Indian captain to an elite club.

Former West Indies captain Jason Holder’s reputation as a short-format player has slanted upwards on the back of a Man of the Series performance against England in Barbados.

Holder, 30, emerged as the highest wicket-taker in a five-match series picking 15 wickets at an average of 9.6, an economy rate of 7.78 and a strike rate of 7.4. West Indies spinner Akeal Hosein, second-best bowler after Holder in the series, picked eight wickets.

A seven-wicket difference speaks highly of Holder’s current T20I form. To think that Holder wasn’t part of West Indies’ original 15-member squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in the UAE despite his potential to contribute across divisions is quite perplexing.

Lasith Malinga commends Jason Holder for performing double hat-trick in Barbados T20I

Defending 20 runs in the final over of a series decider this morning, Holder picked a maiden T20I five-wicket haul and career-best figures of 2.5-0-27-5. Additionally and more importantly, Holder became the first-ever West Indian bowler to not just perform a T20I hat-trick but a T20I double hat-trick.

Holder, who bagged both the awards during the post-match presentation ceremony at the Kensington Oval, received applauds from former Sri Lanka captain Lasith Malinga. Readers must note that Malinga was the first-ever bowler to perform an international double hat-trick and the only bowler to perform it twice at the highest level.

As far as picking four wickets off four balls in T20Is are concerned, Holder has joined the likes of Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan, Malinga and Ireland pacer Curtis Campher.

Holder, who was released by Sunrisers Hyderabad in Indian Premier League 2021, should be able to entice opulent bids in the upcoming IPL 2022 mega auction.