Athanaze: Windies must assess, adapt to 'difficult' Multan pitch

Assess, adapt and be aggressive.

Middle-order batsman Alick Athanaze believes the quicker West Indies batsmen assess and adapt to spin-friendly conditions at Multan Cricket Stadium, the maroon have a fighting chance to tie the two-match Test series against hosts Pakistan, on January 25.

Mediocre knocks from most Windies batsmen in the first Test saw the visitors suffer a 127-run defeat, as Pakistan capitalised on the dry, spinning surface.

Left-hand batsman Athanaze, 26, top-scored for West Indies across both innings with an in-vain 55 runs in the second. For the second Test, the Dominican wants his fellow batsmen to evaluate pitch conditions first, before showing aggression.

“If we look at most of the guys that scored runs on the wicket, they played a lot of sweeps, and aggressively. We didn’t execute as soon as we wanted to but we will have a similar approach (second Test) playing our sweeps and shots,” he said.

“Obviously we would have to assess the conditions first, but that would be the approach. We have to get hundreds in the camp, that is a goal as a batter, and in difficult conditions like this, it would definitely be a go.”

He described the Multan pitch as “difficult” to bat on and suggested batsmen try to look at the ball a little longer before playing a shot, trust their defence and work on sweep and reverse-sweep shots to combat the Pakistani spin.

“The positives for my team is that we’re looking to get out of our comfort zone to adapt to different conditions. Right now it’s just focusing on executing and adapting as quickly as possible,” he added.

“For us, as batters, it’s just to get them (spin bowlers) off their game, try to think one step ahead all the time, get in their head and see what they’re trying to do with us and try to conquer that.”

Despite the opening loss, Vincentian left-arm orthodox spinner Jomel Warrican (7/32) also made the most of the spinning surface by finishing with the best bowling figures; the third-best ever by a visiting bowler in a Test in Pakistan.

Athanaze was in high praise of his team’s bowling effort which had Pakistan all out for 230 in the first innings and 157 in the second. West Indies scored 137 in the first innings and 123 in the second.

“We bowled very well. It was a bit different in the second innings. We understood the dimensions, how quick the outfield was and the pace we had to bowl at on the wicket. We learnt from them. We bowled better in the second innings.”

On his knock of 55, overshadowing his six runs in the first innings, Athanaze said he’s felt good for this series since the January 10-12 practice tour match. He remains optimistic ahead of the series-deciding tie.

“I’m not short of confidence but going into the next Test, that would boost me up a bit, so I’m feeling good.”

Athanaze, however, said despite Pakistan boasting a more experienced unit than the Kraigg Brathwaite-captained squad, the contest still allows the youthful West Indies outfit to grow against world-class opponents.

On Pakistan’s line-up, “They seized a lot of key moments than us. They’re an experienced bunch and the most experienced (player) for us is our captain. I think after (him) everybody else played ten Tests so it’s really about experience. We’re learning on the job so I have no doubt that the second Test would be better.”

The second Test match bowls off at 12.30 am on January 25.