Windies face Pakistan test

THE LAST time the West Indies defeated Pakistan in a Test match at Sabina Park, Clive Lloyd was at the helm when the regional side beat Mushtaq Mohammad’s team by 140 runs in 1977.

In more recent memories at the venue, leg-spinner Yasir Shah bagged eight wickets to carry the visitors to a seven-wicket win in 2017. Fast-forward to today and current captain Kraigg Brathwaite has a mammoth task of trying to eclipse that losing memory, as he leads a circumspect regional side into battle against a fired-up Pakistan unit, starting at 10 a.m. Jamaica time.

While Brathwaite oozed a sense of confidence at yesterday’s prematch press conference, head coach Phil Simmons was a little more frank in highlighting the team’s lack of preparations, which has been described as a little undercooked. Simmons made it clear that he believes the visitors will start as favourites, coming off back-to-back Test series wins against South Africa and Zimbabwe.

On the flip side, the hosts were badly beaten by South Africa in their last series. However, Brathwaite is keen on looking at the bright side, saying this is a new series, new venue and there are World Test Championship points up for grabs.

“It’s Test cricket and this is a different series with different conditions. Pakistan is always a good Test team and they have a lot of young fast bowlers as well. The guys know what they have to do and it won’t be easy. Mentally, the guys are in a good space and positive, and we look forward to the challenge that Pakistan will give us,” said Brathwaite.

Having named their 13-man squad yesterday afternoon, the West Indies have left out off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall, who was expected to be a factor on the Sabina Park surface, after claiming five wickets in the Best vs Best warm-up game last week. Also missing out is batsman Shamarh Brooks, who scored a century in the same game.

That means Roston Chase will be asked to do a lot of the bowling, or the West Indies may opt to go along with Chase and Jomel Warrican, who has been named in the 13.

Not only is Chase expected to factor with the ball, but he is also expected to produce with the bat, as he did back in 2017 when scoring the most runs in the series, 403, including 63 in the first innings of the first Test at Sabina Park.

Also likely to factor with the bat is the returning Nkrumah Bonner, who could be entrusted with the number three position. Bonner was all smiles when he was asked what it would be like to play his first Test match on home soil.

“I am pretty emotional about it. It is something that I have dreamt of, playing in front of my home crowd, and it’s finally coming true, so I am excited about it,” the Jamaican said.

In the meantime, Pakistan will be banking on their all-around game to continue their winning trend, with captain Babar Azam leading a solid middle order, which should include Azhar Ali, Mohammad Rizwan and Fawad Alam.

After claiming a series-leading 25 wickets the last time Pakistan visited the Caribbean, Yasir Shah should factor once again with the ball, along with Mohammad Abbas and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

TEAMS:

West Indies (from): Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Jermaine Blackwood (vice-captain), Nkrumah Bonner, Roston Chase, Joshua Da Silva, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Kieran Powell, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Jomel Warrican.

Pakistan (from): Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain) (wicketkeeper), Abdullah Shafique, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Hasan Ali, Imran Butt, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Yasir Shah, and Zahid Mahmood.