Bangladesh will make a mistake if they expect to choke West Indies with their spinners like India, West Indies coach Otis Gibson said ahead of his team’s crucial Super-10 match against the hosts at Mirpur today. India banked on their two spinners, Amit Mishra and Ravindra Jadeja, to restrict West Indies to 129 before cruising to a seven-wicket win, leaving the defending champions in almost a must-win situation against Bangladesh.
Bangladesh, who also traditionally depend on their spinners, will be eying a repeat of Indian formula in order to make an impact on the game.
But, speaking to reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Monday, Gibson said Bangladesh and Indian spinners are not necessarily the same and the outcome of their efforts also should not be similar.
‘Spin in this format has not always been a problem for us,’ Gibson said. ‘There have been only some instances when we didn’t play spin well. Last night the Indian spinners did bowl very well. The entire Indian attack bowled very well last night. That proved to be the difference.
‘We have come back to practise today [Monday] and it gives us the opportunity to look at what happened last night and make the adjustment that we need to play spin better, or look for more singles or be more adventurous and look to get the ball over the ropes.
‘I do believe that the Bangladesh spinners are different to the Indian spinners. So they will have a different approach,’ he said.
Gibson indicated West Indies would approach the game no different to the India one when they made little attempts for singles and doubles and always waited for six-hitting deliveries. As a result they had given many dot balls early in their innings, which they could not make up for.
‘Some teams have players that can hit the ball into the stands easily. Some players hit through the gaps easily. It works both ways,’ said Gibson. ‘Based on what happened last night, people will start to make assumptions.
‘The way I see it, India bowled well and we didn’t get a lot of singles, but we normally don’t get a lot of singles. That’s the way it goes sometimes.
‘It’s all about playing to your strengths. We are blessed to have players who can hit the ball into the stands.
‘I’m sure most people would want to hit the ball for a six rather than attempt a quick single and pull a hamstring,’ he said.
The West Indies coach did not take a win for granted especially after some unexpected results already adorned the tournament.
‘I guess in a tournament like this anything can happen. We have seen some strange things so far like Ireland scoring 190 and still losing to Netherlands,’ said Gibson.
‘Our focus is one step, one game, one opposition at a time. Our focus is getting ready for Bangladesh.
‘We know that they will come with spin and we just have to play spin better than we did.
‘If it’s hitting it for a six, then so be it. We have to be more aware of the situation. We have a lot of batsmen who are in good form. We are not going to let one defeat dent our confidence,’ he said.
-With New Age input
