DHAKA, Bangladesh, CMC – Captain Kraigg Brathwaite yesterday sent a sober warning to his West Indies side, warning against complacency and urging them to press the reset button ahead of the second Test against Bangladesh starting here today.
Against all odds, the Caribbean side shorn of its leading stars snatched a 1-0 lead in the two-match series last Sunday, when they chased down an improbable 395 on the last day to pull off a three-wicket win in Chattogram.
That victory, along with debutant Kyle Mayers’s historic unbeaten 210, vaulted the visitors into the international limelight in a way very few expected.
Now faced with the prospect of an unanticipated and rare series win, Brathwaite said the challenge before his unit was putting the events of the last week behind them and starting from scratch.
“We’ve got to start over fresh. We got a nice win in the first Test but you know we’re starting over,” a stony-faced Brathwaite told a media conference.
“We’ve got to buckle down. We can’t be complacent, we’ve got to come and fight hard again.”
He continued: “That’s obviously the biggest thing: not to carried away. We’re obviously happy with the win but we’ve got to start back from zero and that’s one of the thing that coach [Phil Simmons] has stressed over the last two days at the practice sessions, and the guys have been buckling down and working hard.
“From me to them it will be just to stay disciplined, stick to your plans both as a bowling unit and a batting unit. Don’t think you’re starting at a hundred, you’ve got to start from zero.
“I think the guys have buckled down. I think the main thing is not to become complacent. We played a good first Test but we have five days of hard Test cricket coming up.”
A 64-Test veteran, Brathwaite will be acutely aware of the pitfalls ahead of the inexperienced unit, based on recent experiences.
In 2017, he featured prominently in a similarly historic run chase when West Indies overhauled 324 on the final day of the second Test at Leeds to beat England and level the three-Test series.
However, the touring side were quickly brought back down to earth, losing the next Test at Lord’s by nine wickets inside three days.
Last year’s tour of England also presented another such scenario, after West Indies upset the hosts in the first Test at Southampton by four wickets.
In a now familiar reversal, West Indies went to Old Trafford just days later and lost the second Test by 113 runs.
With recent tour defeats in England and New Zealand, a series win here presents a mouthwatering proposition but Brathwaite said it was important West Indies remained grounded.
“We as a team don’t want to get too far ahead. We’ve got five days of Test cricket to play,” cautioned the 28-year-old.
“We were very, very happy to have won the first Test and for us we just want to buckle down.
“The victory has meant a lot for us [but] the series has five days left and we really want to focus on that.
“The guys are very, very proud of [their performance in] the first Test and we look forward to the next five days.”
West Indies’ heroics on the final day overshadowed the fact they were outplayed over the first four days.
The hosts piled up 430 in their first innings and West Indies then conceded a 171-run lead after losing their last five wickets for just six runs to collapse to 259 all out.
While they put Bangladesh on the ropes at 33 for three in the second innings, they then watched as captain Mominul Haque hit a hundred, to set up the game in his side’s favour
Brathwaite said he was under no illusions that improvements were needed in the Windies’ overall performance.
“I think our first innings score, we can obviously improve on that for sure. Obviously the second innings was good,” he pointed out.
“ I think in the field we still can be a little sharper. Probably in periods where guys are building a partnership, we can be a little tighter and not as flat.”
In their last visit to the Shere Bangla National Stadium three years ago, West Indies lost heavily by an innings with off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz taking 12 wickets to lead an all-spin attack on a turning pitch.
Brathwaite, who managed a single run in that game, said he believed the pitch would offer similar turn over the next five days and West Indies would consider playing an extra spinner.
“I think the pitch is quite similar to the first Test in terms of the dryness,” he noted.
“I see a few cracks as well so I think it will be quite similar but probably a little slower than the first Test. I can’t predict how it will play but it looks dry.
“We’ve got to buckle down and play some good cricket, whether we’re batting first or we’re bowling first.”
He added: “Looking at the pitch it (playing an extra spinner) would be a thought. Obviously come tomorrow that decision will be made.”
SQUADS:
BANGLADESH – Mominul Haque (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Liton Das, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Saif Hassan, Mustafizur Rahman, Mehidy Hassan, Taijul Islam, Shadman Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Abu Jayed, Ebadat Hossain, Hasan Mahmud
WEST INDIES – Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), John Campbell, Shayne Moseley, Nkrumah Bonner, Jermaine Blackwood, Kyle Mayers, Joshua Da Silva, Rahkeem Cornwall, Jomel Warrican, Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel, Alzarri Joseph, Raymon Reifer, Kavem Hodge, Veerasammy Permaul.