Kavem Hodge believes that sharing "ideas and mindset" within the West Indies batting group is a big reason behind their red-ball progress this year. Hodge reached a career-best unbeaten 140 against Bangladesh in the second Test, helping his side to a 315-run lead in Sylhet on day four.
"[The West Indies batting line-up's] camaraderie is very good," Hodge said at the end of the day. The visitors batted at 4.28 per over on the fourth day, finishing on 345 for 3 for the third innings, and also securing a healthy 315-run lead with seven wickets still left in hand.
"I think a lot of the guys are growing together, cricket-wise," he said. "Although we are from different countries, but when we get together, we have a lot of conversations. We share ideas and mindset. We feed off of each other's routines, whatever it is that we do. The belief is also there.
"It's always nice to contribute to the team. I got a start in the first game in Dhaka, but obviously I didn't get the results that I would have loved," he said. "And it's always nice to contribute to the team. So it was really good to put on some runs for the team in a situation like that, where the game was evenly poised. So it was a good feeling, and hopefully we can continue it tomorrow.
"I think we realized that it's a really good wicket, and history has shown that we've performed pretty well when we have some form of intent rather than just batting for survival. So I think that was the mindset going into this innings, and thankfully it played out really well for the team's benefit."
Hodge is the latest batter in this Bangladesh tour to get a big score. Brandon King scored an unbeaten 81 in their chase in the first Test, and Amir Jangoo has also struck a century in their first innings here in Sylhet. Now, Hodge has reached his third Test century - all three have come away from home. Overall, the West Indies line-up has scored 13 centuries in this calendar year so far.
"There's belief in this batting group. If you know you have guys who score double hundreds and hundreds regularly, then the other guys are going to feed off of that. The information is shared, the mindset [is shared too], and I think that's really important. I think [our collective success] was more of a mindset shift than anything.
"We also prepare well. Kudos to the background staff, but I think it's a mindset shift where guys buy into the concept of batting long when you get in, dig in, triple your scores, stuff like that," he said.
The West Indies batting line-up's camaraderie was evident on the field as well, illustrated by Hodge's own desperation reaction when he saw Wickham get out on 78, falling short of his century. "[Wickham's dismissal] was quite unfortunate," Hodge said. "He was going along really well. But I mean, the two innings that he played [in this game] is just proof of the caliber of player that he is. So I think that he has a lot more Test runs to get."