Once hailed as one of cricket’s most fearsome pace attacks, the West Indies boasted the legendary ‘Fearsome Foursome’, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, and Colin Croft. Later, the Caribbean’s dominance continued with Sir Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh. The Windies were synonymous with raw pace and intimidation.
Fast forward to Tuesday at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium, and the transformation was stark. The team once built on relentless fast bowlers bowled their full fifty overs in an ODI match without a single fast bowler’s delivery. Despite having medium pacers Sherfane Rutherford and Justin Greaves, West Indies chose to deploy only spin.
After losing the toss and being asked to field first, captain Shai Hope handed the ball to five spinners. Among them was Akeal Hossain, who had arrived in Dhaka at 2:30 AM and, barely 11 hours later, opened the bowling at 1:30 PM.
The rest of the 40 overs were shared by Roston Chase, Khary Pierre, Gudakesh Motie, and Alick Athanaze. Remarkably, part-timer Athanaze bowled his full quota of 10 overs, finishing with an exceptional 10-2-14-2. Prior to this, he had bowled only 4 overs across 14 ODIs. His spell made him the most economical spinner against Bangladesh on home soil.
The spin-friendly Mirpur track has long been the talk of the town. In the first ODI, the Windies were restricted to 133 while chasing 207, thanks to leg-spinner Rishad Hossain, who claimed 6 wickets for 35 runs in 9 overs, paving the way for Bangladesh’s 74-run victory.
In the second ODI, both sides sharpened their spin arsenals. Bangladesh included Nasum Ahmed, while the Caribbean brought in Akeal Hossain from afar. The strategy paid off. Bangladesh faced 193 dot balls, a testament to the Caribbean’s spin quintet and the SBNCS wicket.
Mirpur’s pitch has always favored spin, but it was unprecedented for a team to bowl all 50 overs using only spinners in an ODI. The West Indies, once the embodiment of fearsome fast bowling, had fully embraced spin.
A team renowned for pace, bowling fifty overs of spin, can be seen as either honoring the Mirpur wicket or mocking it. Better to say “Only Mirpur can make you feel this way.”
