Mentally we weren't there: Brathwaite
There were expectations from then West Indies coach Stuart Law that the experience of handling quality Indian spinners was an ideal preparation for the Caribbean batsmen ahead of their Bangladesh challenge.
However, the West Indies batsmen's helplessness against spin, which culminated in a 2-0 whitewash yesterday, only provided evidence that there is a huge gap between expectations and the reality. Rather, things went from bad to worse as they scored 17.72 runs per wicket in the series against the Tigers whereas they averaged 20.37 runs per wicket against India in their previous series in India.
West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite's findings were very simple as he believed that his batsmen did not match their mindset with their spin preparation. "We planned for spin here. We had a lot of spin sessions in the nets. Mentally we probably weren't there. We probably weren't 100 per cent. Test cricket is never easy," observed Brathwaite while he was speaking at the post-match briefing.
"Test cricket is a mental game. Five-hundred on the board with the ball spinning on the first day. We could have had some talks. I played outside the line of a straight ball. Mentally we probably weren't there, especially yesterday when we lost five wickets quickly. We have to do better as batsmen, even myself. We can't consistently be 30 for three. We have to hold up our hands and do the job. Simple," the 26-year old opener elaborated on their batting debacle in the Mirpur Test.
He was also not ready to blame the demons on the pitch even though home spinners ran riot. "I can't blame the wicket. Some of the shot selection wasn't good at all, especially yesterday [Saturday] evening. It was very disappointing. Our bowlers did a good job but the batting let us down.," said the visiting skipper.
So in the end, Shimron Hetmyer's rain of sixes during his 92-ball 93 did provide some entertainment for cricket fans but hardly meant anything to the West Indies side.
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