DHAKA: West Indies spinner Jomel Warrican believes the 
battle between the two teams' spinners will play a decisive role in the 
outcome of the ongoing Test series against Bangladesh.

With both sides fielding three specialist spinners, Warrican said the ability 
to bat against spin and bowl with discipline would be crucial to success in 
the two-match series.

"It's going to play a very important role in who wins the series. I guess who 
bats well against the spin and who bowls spin well is going to dominate the 
series," he said after the opening day's play of the first Test at Sher-e-
Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur today.

The sign of the battle of spin was evidenced in how the Day 1 of the opening 
test between the two sides progressed. The West Indies spinners got the turn 
and bounce in abundance to keep the batters in check.

But Bangladesh, led by the patient batting of opener Shadman Islam, reached 
213-3 before the day's play was called off due to bad light, with the opener 
batting on 99.

Warrican, who claimed two of Bangladesh's three wickets, said West Indies had 
maintained discipline with the ball despite failing to take more wickets.

He praised the opening bowlers, Shamar Joseph and Jayden Seales, for 
providing a solid foundation before the spinners took over.

 
"First of all, we started in very disciplined way. Shamar and Jayden, 
especially in subcontinent conditions, put us up in a good foundation," he 
said.

Warrican added that his role was to keep the scoring under control while 
looking for opportunities to take wickets.

"I understand my role as the person to keep things tight, and if I can pick 
up one or two wickets in doing that, it's very important, which I did," he 
said.

The left-arm spinner acknowledged that the pitch offered more assistance 
early in the day, when moisture helped generate turn and bounce, but West 
Indies failed to capitalise on fully.

"Early it had a lot more moisture and unfortunately, we didn't get the 
wickets that we wanted," he said, adding that the visitors remained focused 
on maintaining discipline and taking key wickets.

West Indies were also disappointed when bad light interrupted play, 
particularly after Bangladesh sent Liton Das to the crease, creating an 
opportunity for the visitors to strike quickly.

However, Warrican said the team had to accept the umpires' decision.

Warrican also praised debutant Joshua Bishop saying his consistency and 
economy rate had helped the team, even though he was yet to claim a wicket.

Looking ahead to the second day's play, Warrican said West Indies would aim 
to remove one or two more Bangladesh batters early to strengthen their 
position.

"Ideally, I would want one more wicket, but we have control of the game. The 
game never got away from us," he said.