CHATTOGRAM, Bangladesh, CMC – Three years ago, Jomel Warrican starred with a six-wicket haul in the opening Test at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
Yesterday, the 28-year-old made good use of familiar stomping grounds to claim three for 58 to restrict Bangladesh to 242 for five and help West Indies claim a share of the honours on the opening day of the first Test.
Pointing out the pitch had not spun excessively, Warrican said it had been important to be consistent, especially against batsmen not looking to be overly aggressive.
“It (pitch) was very similar [to 2018]. The day one pitch was very flat and good for batting and as the game continued, it started to spin a bit more but playing here has been good for me and I just want to keep performing here,” Warrican said in reference to his last trip here.
“[This time around], I wouldn’t say I had a lot of assistance. I got some balls to turn but they weren’t turning consistently to say [the pitch] was assisting you all the time, so you just had to be consistent and bowl the ball in the right areas.”
He added: “[It was about] being disciplined and being accurate at the same time, and setting the right fields.
“The pitch is very good for batting. When the ball was a big harder [Rahkeem Cornwall] got some turn but as the ball got older, you could see how good the wicket was, and you had to be disciplined in order to get wickets and build pressure.”
Introduced to the attack in the last over before lunch, Warrican had to wait until the second hour after the interval before tasting success when he got captain Mominul Haque (26) to whip a catch to John Campbell at short mid-wicket.
He then accounted for opener Shadman Islam in the penultimate over before tea, lbw sweeping at a full length delivery, for a top score of 59.
His third wicket arrived on the stroke of the final hour of the final session when he had Mushfiqur Rahim caught low down at slip by Cornwall for 38.
Warrican said one of his key battles was against the patience exhibited by the Bangladeshi batsmen.
“I think they played well, they kept their patience for a bit. I think as a bowling unit we let them off in the last session,” he explained.
“It didn’t show how good we bowled because we were controlling the scoring very well. Having said that, very well done to the bowling unit.
“I find they (batsmen) like to hang back a lot so therefore you try your best to bring them on the front foot as much as possible because when they play back they have a lot of time.
“So the more I brought them on the front foot, the more I asked questions.”
