We tend to block all outside noise: Chase

West Indies cricket hasn't enjoyed much success in recent times. Alongside their on-field struggles across all three formats, they also face numerous problems, including financial issues, reform in the board, and players' welfare issues. Roston Chase, who is a familiar face across all three formats for the Caribbean side and also their Test skipper, recently talked to The Daily Star's Samsul Arefin Khan on the recent and upcoming events, including the two-tier system in Test cricket and the T20 World Cup. The excerpts of the interview are as follows:

The Daily Star (DS): You guys came here with three consecutive T20 series defeats and the recent ODI series loss to Bangladesh. How satisfying was this series win for you guys?

Roston Chase (RC): It's very satisfying because when we lost in the ODIs, we were very hurt. We thought that it was a series we should have won, especially with Bangladesh being close to us in the standings. We want to compete for that automatic qualifying spot [ICC World Cup 2027]. So, we wanted to come out of the series with more points than Bangladesh, but that didn't happen. So, we were very down-spirited by that. But we said that we would come back in the T20s and try to win, and that's what we did. So, it was very pleasing to see that the guys could come out and bounce back from that defeat and still have the confidence and belief in themselves to come out and play some good cricket.

DS: You were out of the Test side for over two years and returned to the side while also being named skipper. Then West Indies lost back-to-back series to Australia and India. How much captaincy pressure are you feeling at the moment?

RC: It's not good to be on the losing side, but cricket is a game where you have to put the negatives behind you as fast as possible. You must look for the positives that you may have had in those series or in those games and take them forward. You can't really harp on the negatives too much, or when you go out there to play, you're not going to be in the right frame of mind and focus to do what is needed at that point in time. So, we just try to bin those bad experiences, take the positives, and move forward.

DS: You know that there's some talk about the two-tier system in Test cricket. How do you see that system? Do you think teams like West Indies and Bangladesh will be hugely affected by it?

RC: I don't have many thoughts about the two-tier system. It's not something that has been put in place; it's just ideas that people have been throwing around. If it's supposed to happen, it will happen. If it's not supposed to happen, it won't happen. I'm just here to play cricket and give of my best.

DS: The T20 World Cup is coming up in the next couple of months in India and Sri Lanka. How do you see your side, given it's been a while since West Indies last won the World Cup?

RC: I think we have a good, well-balanced group of guys -- a good core group, especially from the guys that played in the last T20 World Cup [in 2024]. I think there will be some familiar faces. As I said, it's a core group. The guys have been playing together for a while, so it's just for us to take wins like this, take the positives from them, learn from them as quickly as possible, and just try to play good cricket all the time. Just try to go out there, give of your best, compete, and play hard cricket, and look to win.

DS: A lot of things are happening in West Indies cricket regarding financial issues and on-field struggles. How do you actually see all these things?

RC: We just tend to block all the outside noise. We don't really listen to social media and stuff like that. We just come as a team, sit down, come up with ideas about how we can win cricket games and how we can consistently perform in cricket games. And that's all that we want to do -- be our brother's keeper, look out for each other, try to pull someone up if he's not doing well. And if the guys are doing well, try to push them even more to keep on consistently doing well. That's all we are here to do.