West Indies head coach Daren Sammy was critical of his bowlers after they lost 2-1 to Bangladesh in the ODI series. Sammy expressed his disappointment at West Indies spinners' inability to take advantage of pitches that were unusually dark and cracked, and offered variable bounce.
Bangladesh's spinners outbowled West Indies', taking 27 wickets at an average of 14.66 and economy rate of 3.80. In comparison, the West Indies spinners took 18 wickets at an average of 30.05 and economy rate of 4.39. Left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie and allrounder Roston Chase had disappointing numbers, with even part-timer Alick Athanaze returning better figures than them in the second ODI.
Khary Pierre and Akeal Hosein, both coming back to the ODI set-up after long gaps, fared better too. Hosein's four-wicket haul in the third ODI was West Indies' only bowling highlight in the series.
"[The positive in the ODI series was] probably the batting of Shai Hope - how he continues to put the team on his back every time he faces a challenge," Sammy said. "He is a leader. He puts the team on his back, but I am really disappointed in the way we bowled. You come to Bangladesh and you know spinners should be licking their lips. That's the area where you will get to execute your plans and in the most favorable conditions for you. What we displayed over the last three games was very poor, not consistent enough."
Though the conditions were stacked in favour of the spinners, Sammy was all for home advantage.
"I will tell you this, I always want to ask for home advantage," Sammy said. "I can't tell the Bangladesh team or the authorities what wicket to prepare. I focus on my team having the skillset to counteract whatever comes when they are playing away.
"This series was very important for both teams. You are supposed to do what you have to do to win at home. That's the most important thing. Whether that affects your development going outside of Bangladesh, that's on them. I just thought my players just didn't play well throughout the series."
He was also concerned by West Indies' fielding. "We were poor in all three disciplines," Sammy said. "I think we dropped six catches. Two didn't go to hand and one was too wide. We were poor in all the departments today."
Sammy, though, was pleased with Hosein's return. Back in the ODI team after two years, as a replacement player, Hosein picked up six wickets in two games at an average of 13.66 and economy rate of 4.10.
"Massive kudos to Akeal in the manner in which he came up," Sammy said. "In a team where you have three left-arm spinners and a guy who's been out for the last two years coming in and outshine them, yes there's a place for competition.
"That's what you want in a team. You don't want to select guys because they have nobody else to replace them. You want to select guys because they have competition, and what Akeal did in this series is definitely going to challenge some of the guys who've been there."