Depleted West Indies take on strong Pakistan

West Indies cricket shares a special bond with Pakistan. Several of their players are treated as demigods by the cricket-mad public for their exploits on the world stage and in the Pakistan Premier League. Former Windies captain Darren Sammy had always been vocal about bringing international cricket back to the country and played a crucial role in West Indies' 2018 for a tour. For his efforts, he was awarded Nishan-e-Pakistan, the nation’s highest civilian award in 2020.

Amid the dramatic series pull out from New Zealand and England and Wales Cricket Board cancelling their tour in August, Cricket West Indies declared its commitment to a return tour of Pakistan. Last month, the Windies women’s team played three ODIs and despite the looming threat of the Omnicron covid-19 variant, the men’s team will follow it up with three T20Is and three ODIs.

The threat of covid still remains as four members of the visitors’ contingent, including Roston Chase, Kyle Mayers and Sheldon Cottrell, tested positive after arriving in Lahore. That added to the Windies’ list of major absentees for the T20I series after Kieron Pollard was ruled out due to injury and Andre Russell is in Australia for the Big Bash League.

The series will be Windies’ first limited-overs outing after a dismal T20 World Cup where they exited in Super 12s stage after losing four of their five matches. Adding to the retirements of Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo, they are also without regulars Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer, and Lendl Simmons which leaves captain Nicholas Pooran burdened in the batting department.

Pooran was the only batter who looked confident during the World Cup as he scored 103 runs from five matches and brings along with him the experience of playing in franchise leagues in the sub-continent. Shai Hope, another senior in the team, has had a dismal year which saw him dropped for the World Cup and has played only in the Caribbean Premier League with middling results in the top order. Brandon King will be expected to open the innings alongside Hope following his exploits in the CPL where he guided Guyana Amazon Warriors to the semifinals with consistent performances.

Windies, however, can bank on their bowling unit to make an impact. They will definitely miss the services of Cottrell, but the likes Akeal Hosein, Obed McCoy, Hayden Walsh Jr and Romario Shepherd have shown promise in the home series against Australia and South Africa. Facing a strong batting unit led by Babar Azam will be a big opportunity for them to cement their places in the team.

West Indies are on their second consecutive series in the sub-continent after a dismal 2-0 Test series loss to Sri Lanka. The last time they visited Pakistan, they were outclassed 3-0 at the National Stadium in Karachi and their latest clash in July, a four-match T20I series in the Caribbean, ended up in a 1-0 win for Pakistan after three games were washed out due to rain.

So far this year, West Indies have won just nine of their 22 matches and lost 10, which is concerning going up against World Cup semifinalists Pakistan who are just coming off a series cleansweep against Bangladesh.

Pakistan brimming with confidence

Except for the semifinal loss against New Zealand in the T20 World Cup, Pakistan have enjoyed a sensational 2021 with a win percentage of 73.9%. The batting unit led by Azam and keeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan has been at the forefront of this run, scoring a combined total of 1979 runs from the 26 innings they have opened together. Rizwan, with a hundred and 10 fifties to his name, became the first batter to score more 1000 T20I runs in a calendar year and continued his form into the Bangladesh series with 90 runs from three matches.

The likes of Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed and Khushdil Shah add depth to their middle order. However, Pakistan can be vulnerable when their top-three are dismissed cheaply, which is something West Indies should target in the powerplay.

Pakistan’s pace bowling is also good touch with the likes of Haris Rauf and Shahnawaz Dahani added to attack the led by Shaheen Afridi. In the spin department, Shadab Khan has been superb this year with 17 wickets from 15 T20Is at an average of 18.6. 

The Pakistan vice-captain has the ability to pick out the perfect lengths during the middle over where he has picked 15 of his wickets at an economy of 6.7. Shadab will have the company of Mohammad Nawaz and Usman Qadir for company who have been hit or miss this year. Qadir, despite claiming 13 wickets this year during the middle overs, has conceded at 8.3 RPO which is something Windies will look to exploit.

It might look like a one-sided affair considering the inexperience of West Indies and the big stars pulling out of the series. However, there is enough talent within the next generation of Windies stars to make a mark against a formidable Pakistan side.