'Important for Joseph to back his skills' - Holder

Jason Holder, the West Indies captain, has kept his cards close to his chest when asked about the team's composition for the second Test against India, which starts at Sabina Park on Saturday. He said the pitch looked full of moisture on the eve of the Test, but would wait till the morning of the match before taking a final decision.

"We will take the final decision tomorrow morning, see how the pitch looks," he said. "Yesterday it looked a bit green and this morning there was a lot of moisture."

Despite the look of the pitch, Holder felt it was difficult to predict how it would behave.

"The last game we played here against Australia there was not this amount of grass on the pitch," he said. "Previously there was grass, but the pitch still ends up being on the slower side. To be fair, as I said, probably it's difficult really to predict how the pitch will play here in Jamaica. Going into this game tomorrow morning, I just need to take a final decision."

West Indies went into the first Test in Antigua with only one genuine quick bowler, in Shannon Gabriel, with allrounders Holder and Carlos Brathwaite playing a holding role with their seam-up. Holder did not reveal if either Alzarri Joseph or Miguel Cummins would come into the team for the second Test, but had words of encouragement for Joseph, the uncapped 19-year-old fast bowler, when asked if he was ready for Test cricket.

"To be fair, I have never played against Alzarri, never seen him play cricket live," Holder said. "But I have seen him play cricket on TV. And there is obviously a lot of talk going behind him. He has talent, he has the ability, he has pace. I support him fully. He has done what is done to get here.

"We just need to get behind him if he is making his debut tomorrow. If he plays in the near future, we just need to give him support. Support is all we can give. At this time, it's important for him to back his skills and know what got him here. He got here by hard work, he got here by performances. He will just continue doing what he has been doing before and if given the opportunity, I wish him all the best."

In a West Indies line-up that struggled in both innings of the first Test in Antigua, Jermaine Blackwood perhaps struggled the most, falling for ducks in both innings. Since scoring 92 against Sri Lanka in Galle last year, Blackwood has made 78 runs in nine Test innings at an average of 8.67. Holder did not specify if Blackwood would retain his place at Sabina Park, his home ground, but said the middle-order batsman had his full support.

"I haven't picked the team as yet," Holder said. "Jermaine has done well for us in the last few seasons. But I support him, I back him 100%. If he is given a chance to continue, I hope he will go and put out a good performance. He has got a Test century and has done well against some of the best bowling attacks. Everybody goes through a rough patch. It's just about him turning it around."