Head Coach of the West Indies Test team, Andre Coley, heaped praise onto his players after their historic win in the second Test against Pakistan in Multan, the regional side’s first Test win on Pakistani soil since 1990. After being dominated by 127 runs in the first Test from January 17-19, the West Indies rebounded with a 120-run win from January 25-27 to secure a draw in their final series of this World Test Championship cycle.
Coley, in his last series as Test coach before Daren Sammy takes over in April, praised his side’s improvement throughout the series.
“A good win. It also showed improvement as the series progressed so really putting most things together in all the areas in the second test was good to see,” Coley said in an interview after the second Test.
The tourists went to Pakistan anticipating conditions similar to what England faced when they toured the Asian country last October and they were not surprised at what they encountered according to Coley.
“We anticipated spin even before coming here but the surfaces we encountered spun from day one which is what we’d be used to on a day three pitch. It was really a test of our skills and our mental strength,” he said.
“In a situation like that where it was helpful to the spinners, it would be quite easy for batters to worrying about what-ifs as opposed to staying in the moment and watching that ball and trusting your skills,” he added.
After the first Test, the West Indies made adjustments with both bat and ball.
With the bat, spearheaded by captain Kraigg Brathwaite, there was a noticeable shift to more intent and a more positive mindset while with the ball, the fields set and adjustments by the bowlers seemed to build up more pressure on the Pakistan batsmen.
Coley was especially pleased about his team’s ability to make those adjustments.
“What was also good is learning for the players in a sense where, on a tour, there are going be instances where you need to make certain adjustments; some of it technical and some of it tactical. We saw that, as the series progressed, a few things were reinforced in the players, the importance of trying new things and then just the mindset from the captain. He had a positive mindset, not careless, but further defining what playing with intent looks like,” he said.
“With that said, it was spin friendly conditions but bowlers still had to put the ball in the right areas to be effective. So many times, you see pitches that are helpful to bowlers and they can’t control it so I thought out spin bowling unit, led by Warrican, was really good. Good to see Motie back in Test cricket and Sinclair continues to improve. Don’t discount the impact of Jayden (Seales) and Kemar (Roach) on the series. Yes, it was spin friendly conditions but it was always going to be tricky. Wherever it spins, generally, offers some seam movement and I thought we were able to extract that. The lower order batting as well helped to prop up where the batters fell short and that kept us in the series as well,” Coley added.
He singled out Warrican who was named man of the series for his 19 wickets, noting that his ability to change his pace based on conditions is what makes him most dangerous.
“His ability to control his pace is what makes him very dangerous. He’s able to work out the pace to bowl on a particular pitch and you could see from the graphics, he was able to adapt quicker that the other two guys who came on a bit later in the series,” he said.
“One of his skills, as well, is that he’s able to challenge both edges. It’s all good to be ripping past the outside edge but his ability to bowl an arm ball with precision also makes it dangerous challenging the pads and the stumps,” he added.
He was particularly pleased with all his spinners ability to manage their economy rates better in the second Test after working out the pace they need to bowl.
“All the spinners started out going for a bit more runs than they would have wanted but, eventually, as they settled in, they worked out what the pace was,” he said.
“Kraigg also did a good job in terms of we discussed having in and out fields, how we were going to attack around the bat in particular but also have men on the boundary that could protect those release shots. It was a really good team performance. Everyone played their part right throughout,” he added.
Coley also gave credit to wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach who showed excellent skills behind the stumps and made a crucial 35 in the second innings of the second Test to set up the victory.
“It was a difficult pitch to keep on, especially against spin. He showed some good skills and good movement and his hands worked well. His crucial knock towards the end to help us get that total was also good,” he said.