West Indies pacer, Kemar Roach, believes if his side is to come out victorious in the two-Test series against hosts, Bangladesh, they will need to plan and execute well.
Roach, who gave an interview on the sidelines of their second training session yesterday, said that the spinners will do the bulk of the work, considering the fact that conditions are more suitable for them but said that the pace department will still need to perform well.
“Obviously we have our job to do, me and Shannon [Gabriel and] Alzarri [Joseph] as well but the spinners obviously will do the bulk of the work but I think once we do what we are best at, and that is taking wickets.
“It will help the team out, the bowlers out and, as a bowling unit; we can obviously execute our plans better. We’ve been planning well, we’ve been having conversations with the bowling coach ourselves and obviously we know what we want to do,” he said.
The 32-year-old Bajan said that it will call for a collective effort, particularly in the field where the bowlers will have to use the fielders to their tactical advantage and attack the batsmen.
He explained. “I think it’s more of attacking with the field. Predominantly you try to bowl a bit straighter because there isn’t that much bounce in the pitches but you attack with the field, set good fields and obviously, you try to execute your plans as well. There is a bit of change you can do like mixing up your pace and stuff like that but that’s a bit more advanced but basically just to get it simple just put the ball in good area, attack the stumps as much as possible and set good fields.”
Roach has bagged 204 wickets in his 60-match career so far and has stood out when playing against Bangladesh. In eight matches, the right arm quick has taken 33 wickets at an average of 19.78 and a strike rate of 41.3, his best against any team.
He has also picked up three five-wicket hauls which also is the most he has against any team. His personal best bowling innings of six for 48 was recorded against the same opposition.
From the numbers, Roach is packed with confidence; something he feels will serve the team well in a series as important as this.
When asked about his track record against Bangladesh giving him confidence, he responded, “Yes! Obviously it’s now over in Bangladesh where it is obviously tougher for fast bowlers to get wickets. Once I plan well and execute my plans as much as I can, as well as I can, I am looking forward to doing well and obviously helping the team to win because it is very important for us to win.”
The most experienced bowler in the side admitted that Bangladesh has in their arsenal, a number of quality batsmen but said that he was not focused on them but rather focused on the job at hand.
“I think they have a pretty good side, obviously [Tamim] Iqbal is one of their more senior batsmen, Shakib [Al-Hasan] is back, Mushfiqur [Rahim], the skipper, he has always been a good batsman as well, [Mohammad] Mahamudullah, they have some pretty good names but we just have to focus on us, just do what we have to do, plan well, put the ball in the right areas, set the field accordingly and attack the Bangladeshi batsmen and I think once we do that we can come out on top in this series.
The Test series begins in February with the first Test at Chattogram from 3-7th while the second Test is in Dhaka from February 11-15th.
West Indies squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Jermaine Blackwood (vice-captain), Nkrumah Bonner, John Campbell, Rahkeem Cornwall, Joshua Da Silva, Shannon Gabriel, Kavem Hodge, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Shayne Moseley, Veerasammy Permaul, Kemar Roach, Raymon Reifer, Jomel Warrican.
Bangladesh’s preliminary squad: Mominul Haque, Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al-Hasan, Najmul Hasan Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Liton Das, Yasir Ali, Saif Hasan, Abu Jayed, Taskin Ahmed, Khaled Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shadman Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Ebadot Hossain.
