West Indies captain Roston Chase conceded on 6 August that his side misjudged their bowling composition in the second Test against Pakistan at Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, a match they lost by eight wickets. On a surface where spinners claimed 20 of the 28 wickets to fall, West Indies entered the game with only one specialist spinner — left-arm slow bowler Jomel Warrican — leaving them underpowered as conditions favoured turn from early on.

The Bowling Balance Problem

Chase, who bowls off-spin, was battling a finger injury throughout the match that severely curtailed his ability to contribute with the ball. West Indies had Joshua Bishop, another spin option, available in the squad but chose not to field him. Speaking to reporters at the conclusion of the series, Chase acknowledged the miscalculation.

'I don't want to say we misread the pitch, but we didn't think that it was going to spin as much from so early. So I think that that is where the problem came in. And also my injury, I think that we thought I would have been able to bowl a lot more, but rushing back from the injury a bit too quickly, and I was still in some pain in terms of bowling,' Chase said.

He added that while he felt the team could have made room for an extra spinner, he would not have been the one to make way. 'Captaining the side, I would never leave myself out to play anyone else. If I am outright injured and can't play, then I would sit out. But once I can still play as a batsman, I will always play. But I do think that we could have made room for an extra spinner, but it wouldn't have been (instead of) myself at all,' he said.

Fast Bowlers Slow to Adapt

Chase also pointed to his pace attack's failure to read the conditions quickly enough, allowing Pakistan to accumulate a commanding total in their first innings. The Queen's Park Oval surface offered far less assistance to fast bowlers than the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, which hosted the first Test.

'I think that we took a bit too long to adapt to the conditions... we still tried to blast them out per se, and I think that gave them too many runs before we really locked it down and stuck to the plan and were a bit more disciplined,' Chase said. The captain felt a more patient, defensive approach — targeting one side of the wicket and squeezing Pakistan into errors — would have been more effective.

Greaves Injury a Significant Blow

West Indies suffered a further setback when all-rounder Justin Greaves sustained a leg injury while batting, ruling him out of bowling duties for the remainder of the match. Chase described the absence as a significant loss to his options.

'He's that guy that he's more of a holding bowler, but he holds so well that it creates so much pressure that he tends to get wickets as well, by batsmen making mistakes, and we saw it in the last game — once he gets going, he's really hard to stop. So, it was a big miss for us as well with that injury,' Chase said, adding that he hoped Greaves would return to full fitness as soon as possible.

Warrican's Effort Singled Out for Praise

Amid the defeat, Chase reserved warm words for Warrican, who shouldered the spin burden alone, bowling 46 overs in Pakistan's first innings to claim a six-wicket haul. 'I thought his effort was a magnificent one. I mean, he bowled really long for those wickets, and I thought his patience was up to par... he finally reaped the reward,' Chase said.

Chase also noted that Warrican's workload reflected a broader selection tendency: 'I want to say congrats to Jomel Warrican and especially for a guy who hasn't been playing as many matches given that we tend to go with the pacers more often than not.' The series result will prompt questions about West Indies' pitch-reading process and squad selection strategy ahead of their next assignment.