Did Bangladesh pay the price of preparing a spinning deck? It was a question that came up for discussion after the hosts’ eight-wicket loss to West Indies in the first Test at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Saturday (October 31).

While Bangladesh looked to take a significant step towards their dream of playing in the ICC World Test Championship final with a ploy of outfoxing West Indies with a spin-heavy attack, it hardly paid any dividends as the tourists emerged better placed for the strategy.

West Indies’ spinners dominated the Test, with left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican taking nine wickets, which included a five-wicket haul in the first innings. Captain Roston Chase took five wickets in the second innings with his off-spin to set up the match for his side before the batters got the job done.

The spinners from the two sides brought different bowling approaches. But what was more surprising was the fact that the West Indian spinners extracted a greater average turn - 3.5 degrees - compared to Bangladesh’s 3 degrees.

“I don't know why we have forgotten to turn the ball. If we cannot turn the ball on this wicket I am not sure where we will turn the ball,” a member of the national team management told Cricbuzz on the request of anonymity, after the Mirpur Test.

“I am not sure whether it is a technical thing or something else because these same bowlers managed to turn the ball better on flatter wickets.

“I think our bowlers tried to ball with more pace while the West Indians bowled a lot slower and that probably allowed them to turn the ball more than us,” he added.

There are also arguments over the Bangladesh spinners’ mindset and whether it presents them as attacking options.

“It's fair to say we are not traditionally attacking spinners as we believe that if we can stop the flow of the runs, pressure will mount on the opponents and most of our spinners play cricket carrying that philosophy," the aforementioned team management member said.

“We hardly have a plan B and you cannot ask them to change their approach right in the middle of the game. But the time has come for us to start having a plan B so that if needed, we can attack. And by that I mean having the courage to buy wickets.

“You can argue whether with such a small total [to defend] whether that would have been a good approach or not. But at the same time you cannot defend such a total with a mindset of not leaking runs,” he added.

Quite a few eyebrows were raised after Bangladesh opted for a spin-friendly wicket in Mirpur, considering that the strategy has resulted in more losses than wins in Tests in recent times. Moreover, Bangladesh’s fast bowlers have started to make a name for themselves through their recent performances and there is a feeling that not backing them to come good was not wise.

The absence of pace bowler Nahid Rana, who is ruled out of the series due to injury, would have played a part in making such a decision. But with the spinners unable to turn the ball as much as their opponents on a track tailor-made for them raises questions over the decision taken up by the team management.

Whether earning points in the WTC was a major reason behind this decision is a matter of discussion. But as they go back to the drawing board ahead of the second Test in Sylhet from November 5, Bangladesh have plenty to think about having endured successive defeats after their famous win against Australia in Darwin.