WI vs PAK 2026: ‘I'm in a good space right now’ - Roston Chase on regaining form

West Indies captain Roston Chase admitted that he felt more relief than anything else after his side's emphatic 194-run innings victory over Sri Lanka in the first Test in late June.

The all-rounder has a Test batting average of 25.99, but his numbers have taken a hit after a lean run in his last six Tests in 2025, leaving him eager to rediscover his best form.

"It's a good feeling to find some form after struggling for the past year in the batting department. That knock gave me a lot of confidence, gave me a lot of relief, to know that I can actually come and perform for the team. And as a leader as well - I think when you're a leader that goes out there and leads by example, I think everyone has a different level of respect for you and they believe in you even more and they want to play for you even more,” said Chase as quoted by Cricinfo.

"So it's a good feeling for me. And, as I said, I'm in a good space right now and the team is in a good space right now. So I'm very glad for that performance,” he added.

Chase was named in the squad for the first three ODIs against New Zealand but missed the series due to an injury to his right index finger. He is expected to lead the West Indies in the upcoming Test series against Pakistan, although it remains uncertain whether he will be fit enough to bowl.

"Well, we're going to see when I get to the ground tomorrow. Right now, it's not 100% obviously, but I bowled a few balls yesterday and I still have a bit of pain. But as I see it, I still have a bit of time before the first ball is bowled. So hopefully it can have an improvement by then,” said Chase.

The victory over Sri Lanka was West Indies' first win of the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. Despite the result, they remain eighth in the standings, just ahead of Pakistan in ninth. The two teams also finished eighth and ninth, respectively, in the previous WTC cycle.

"Yeah, for this championship, we initially set out that we wanted to finish around fifth or sixth in the table. We didn't want to jump too far ahead of ourselves. We wanted to set a realistic goal and we came up with that goal. So it's very important for us to come and win this series against Pakistan. And I think once we do that, I think we'll find our way close to sixth or fifth on the table,” said Chase.

"I think it's very important, as I said, for us to come and win this series, to head in the [right] direction in terms of climbing that table. And not only the Test Championship table, but the actual Test ranking table. We want to move up the rankings from down at the bottom of the table. And it's been a while since West Indies cricket have been mid-table, like sixth, fifth. So we really want to get back up there and really want to make the nation proud,” he added.