KINGSTON: West Indies and Pakistan begin their two-Check sequence at Sabina Park in Jamaica on Thursday with head coach Phil Simmons involved concerning the readiness of the house gamers for what is anticipated to be a formidable problem from proficient however mercurial opponents.
With the vulnerability of the hosts’ batting mercilessly exploited by South Africa two months in the past in an analogous two-Check duel in St Lucia, Simmons made clear his displeasure that the majority of his Check match specialists did little or no, if something, whereas away from the worldwide scene.
Over the previous six week the West Indies took on the South Africans, Australians and Pakistanis in a succession of limited-over fixtures.
“A lot of the players said they didn’t get any work done in their home territories before this camp and the four-day game,” mentioned the previous West Indies all-rounder following a four-day warm-fixture forward of the opening encounter. “It’s disappointing to find out there’s nothing done and we have to start from scratch here.”
That’s not an encouraging signal going into the sequence, particularly if the pitches for the 2 matches at Sabina Park have something just like the tempo and bounce of the Daren Sammy Nationwide Cricket Stadium.
Kraigg Brathwaite’s workforce had been thrashed by the Proteas in consecutive matches with the tempo trio of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi obliterating a batting line-up that didn’t get previous 165 in 4 innings.
On the again of 4 consecutive Check wins, together with convincing successes over the identical South Africans on dwelling soil, Pakistan wouldn’t look like burdened by related considerations.
Again-to-back innings triumphs over a particularly weak Zimbabwe outfit in Harare of their final sequence might hardly be thought-about a dependable indicator of anticipated efficiency in opposition to extra formidable opponents.
Provided that they’ve already skilled a lot of the worst influence of the early levels of the wet season within the Caribbean — the four-match Twenty20 Worldwide sequence had only one accomplished fixture with the vacationers prevailing by seven runs in Windfall (Guyana) — Simmons’ Pakistan counterpart Misbah-ul-Haq will however be involved about his workforce’s readiness for the normal format of the sport even when current historical past means that they’ve the confirmed high quality to beat their beleaguered opponents.
Whereas he didn’t characteristic within the Zimbabwe sequence and claimed only one wicket in his final Check, in opposition to South Africa in Rawalpindi, spinner Yasir Shah should be favoured to make a return to nationwide responsibility in part of the world the place he emerged as player-of-the-series and dramatically bowled his nation to their first-ever Check sequence triumph within the West Indies once they final toured the area in 2017 below Misbah’s captaincy. That sequence additionally noticed Misbah and batting nice Younis Khan carry down curtains on their glittering careers.
Curiously, quick bowler Shannon Gabriel, the person whose dismissal by Yasir within the closing minutes of the sequence decider in Dominica 4 years in the past sealed the historic success, is dominated out of this sequence as he continues to wrestle with match health in gentle of the absence of home competitors in his native Trinidad and Tobago.
It leaves senior pacer Kemar Roach to spearhead a West Indies bowling assault that, if the situations are pace-friendly, might see promising quick bowling expertise Chemar Holder enjoying his second Check after being inexplicably omitted since a creditable debut in New Zealand on the finish of final yr.
Nevertheless whether or not the situations favour the sooner bowlers or spinners, the West Indies headache stays very a lot with their batting as captain Brathwaite’s struggles on the prime of the order within the final two sequence appear to have grow to be a template for individuals who comply with him within the line-up.
It’s an apparent vulnerability that Pakistan will search to take advantage of, though their very own tendencies in the direction of the irrational and the inconsistent go away the window barely ajar for an underdog dwelling workforce to push these guests to a level which was utterly absent amid the annihilation by the hands of the South Africans in June.
In the meantime, Pakistan captain Babar Azam expressed the hope his batters will put up good totals. “The pitches in Jamaica can be challenging but out batters need to come to the party and post decent scores on the board because they have done well this year. Whenever you come to the Caribbean, you want to play your best cricket and win.”
Groups (from):
WEST INDIES: Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Kieran Powell, Nkrumah Bonner, Roston Chase, Kyle Mayers, Jermaine Blackwood, Jason Holder, Joshua da Silva, Rahkeem Cornwall, Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach, Shamarh Brooks, Jahmar Hamilton, Chemar Holder, Shai Hope, Jayden Seales, Jomel Warrican.
PAKISTAN: Imran Butt, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam (captain), Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Yasir Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Abbas, Saud Shakeel, Nauman Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Sajid Khan, Abdullah Shafiq. Zahid Mahmood.
Umpires: Joel Wilson (West Indies) and Gregory Brathwaite (West Indies).
TV umpire: Leslie Reifer (West Indies)
Match referee: Richie Richardson (West Indies).
Printed in Daybreak, August 12th, 2021
