BackWest Indies captain Roston Chase credited the team's preparatory camp in Chennai for their improved showing against spin during the recent Test series against Bangladesh, which the visitors won 1-0.
West Indies had held a short camp in Chennai ahead of the series to acclimatise themselves to spin-friendly conditions, anticipating a challenge from Bangladesh's slow bowlers. The preparation appeared to pay off, with the visitors conceding just 16 wickets to the hosts' spinners across the two Tests.
“When we usually come to Bangladesh the spinners eat us for dinner most of the time but I think that we are an improved unit in terms of playing spin,” Chase said.
“Also the preparation that most of the guys had going to Chennai and preparing in similar conditions in India, practising against lots of spin and working on areas that we weren't so good at. I thought that it worked well and it just goes to show that when you prepare well you get results,” he said.
Chase said West Indies had prepared for both spin-friendly and seam-friendly conditions, knowing Bangladesh had relied on their pace attack in recent successful outings.
“We came here with an open mind because we know that Bangladesh have been using seam attack more in the past few games that they have won. So if the wickets were seam-friendly, we would have our seamers to work in our favour, and if it was spin-friendly, we would have the same artillery in the spin department. They opted to go with the spinning surfaces and it backfired on them. So, we're very happy,” he said, adding that he was pleased to end the World Test Championship cycle on a winning note.
“I am very happy. Obviously, Bangladesh is always a tough place to play cricket. So, to beat them in their own backyard is always a pleasure. We wanted to win both games but it didn't happen,” he said.
“This game was a bit slower than the first one, especially with all the bad light taking time out of the game, so it made it a bit even harder for us to win. But I thought that we still played well and kudos to the guys for winning the series,” he added.
Chase also reserved praise for Jomel Warrican, who finished the series with 16 wickets and crossed the 100-wicket mark in Test cricket.
“I thought Warrican bowled well in both games. He controlled his economy very well. I thought that he built a lot of pressure and put the balls in front of the batsmen for a long period of time. So, I thought that was the hallmark of his bowling throughout the series, along with spinning and straightening as well. So, I thought that he really kept us in this series and really won the series for us,” Chase concluded.