Hold your horses Mr Holding, somebody is trying to play
During pre-T-20 era, the first thing a batsman used to learn was to spend some time in the middle, understand the pitch and then play stokes accordingly. Same was true for bowlers, to bowl a tight line and length for the first few overs, do not give room to batsmen and then bowl according to the conditions and the wicket.
Michael Holding belongs to pre T-20 era. He must have learnt the wait and watch approach during his initial playing days. But, this wait and watch approach is deserting him in his commentary stint. Having said that, Michael Holding is a good commentator, he understands the technicality of the game, his rate of speech is impeccable. His Jamaican accent adds the entertainment quotient to his commentary. But, there is a grey area, which is jumping to conclusions really soon and a rigid mindset.
Wait and watch- this approach would warrant somebody to have a decent sample size before commenting on the calibre and skills of a cricket player. But, it seems that Holding forms his opinion too soon and without a decent sample size which is evident in the case of Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah.
Its safe to assume that Holding doesn't follow Indian first-class cricket, still, after just a few matches, he knows that Pandya is not good enough either as a bowler or as a batsman to be in the Indian test side. Jasprit Bumrah has played 4 test matches so far and before he could play his first test match in England, Holding jumped to conclusion that he wouldn't be successful in England with the new ball.
All of us are aware of what transpired after his predictions or analysis. Bumrah took five wickets with the new ball, Pandya took a fifer and scored a half-century in the same test. It could be a co-incidence but speaking too soon is never a good habit, often people end up eating their words.
Modern day game has changed. In spite of, not being technically correct people like Virendra Sehwag, Lasith Malinga and Steve Smith are successful in the longer format as well. This tells you that there is more to cricket than just the technical side, which you cannot judge unless and until you observe somebody for a length of time.
After the events of the last week, it would be fair to say 'hold your horses, Mr Holding, somebody is trying to play.'