A star studded West Indies will face the stiff challenge of Pakistan when they take on the visitors in a 4 match T20 series. Initially, it was a 5 match T20 series but some COVID related complications which arised in the Australia tour of West Indies forced the series to be curtailed to become a 4 game affair. Both the teams will look to build some momentum before the upcoming mega event in T20 World Cup scheduled for October. There would be a mixed feeling in the West Indies camp after they defeated Australia in the T20 series but were soon rattled by the Aussies in the ODI series. On the other hand, nothing has gone right for Pakistan in the last few months as they were cleansweeped by a second-string English side in ODIs and the fate continued in the T20 series as well where they ended up losing 2-1. Though, both the sides possess some big names on the paper, the mutual issue between the two sides are the woes of their batsmen.
PAKISTAN
Famine or feast has been the story of Pakistan batsman on their last tour. Except for the first game in the T20 series against England, the batsman have failed to click as a unit and middle order woes have deepened with the veteran Hafeez's miserable outings. Pakistan may look to reshuffle their batting order with the regular opener Fakhar Zaman to open with Babar and Rizwan to give stability to the middle order. Batting woes have been an old age problem for Pakistan cricket but the recent form of their bowlers has exaggerated the issue further. The likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Rauf and Shadab were belted all round the ground and failed to respond to the counter attacking approach of the English batsman. The conditions in the Caribbean will be totally different from the England and Pakistan players have to adapt quickly considering their recent tour of England which ended recently where runs were scored in plenty but the same will not be the case here.
WEST INDIES
West Indies have played 10 T20s at home since June,where they lost a hard fought series to South Africa but made a astonishing comeback against the Aussies in the T20 series.This will be their third successive series against a quality side since June, and a very important one to boost the confidence of the side. West Indies will be eyeing consistency along with the form of some key batsmen and a complete team performance. The Caribbean lads can single handedly win games on their day, but cricket is a team sport and West Indies are very well aware that the likes of Gayle and Pooran are yet to perform consistently. A geninue reason for some inconsistency are the pitches not being batting friendly but the two time and current reigning champions will be well aware that the big guns must come to the party. Lendl Simmons and Evin Lewis were the leading run scorers against Australia and the team will look towards them with the hopes of replicating the same success. Russell and Walsh too have contributed pretty decently and West Indies would want them to continue the good work. The team has all the bases covered on paper but ultimately the on-field execution will matter.
HEAD TO HEAD
The two sides last faced off each other back in 2018 with Pakistan winning the series in a thumping manner but a lot has changed since then. This West Indies side is completely different and possesses some juggernauts of T20 cricket. Pakistan would know that these pitches are suitable for their brand of cricket and they would want to give something to cheer for their fans back at home after the horrible performance on the last tour but the boys from the Caribbean would certainly not be a walk in the park to face.
Victorious side in the last five encounters: PAK (2017), WI (2017), PAK (2018), PAK (2018), PAK (2018)
Special Mention: Babar Azam in his last five outings against Windies has registered the scores of 43,38,17,93,51.
Pitch Report: Kensington Oval hosted the ODI series between Australia and West Indies where we witnessed a lot of assistance for the bowlers, particularly for the spinners. The captain of the West Indies team, Kieron Pollard was furious at the type of pitches produced and deemed that they do not suit the international standards. Once again, it is expected that the spinners will play a pivotal role with the batsman to face some really tough and testing times at the crease.
Fantasy Picks: Babar, Rizwan, Lewis, Simmons, Hafeez, Russell, Imad, Shadab, Walsh, Obed, Hasan Ali/DJ Bravo
Where To Watch: Fancode App (No Television Streaming)
