Conf ident WI square off against Pakistan
WEST INDIES captain Jason Holder is expressing great confidence heading into the first match of their three-Test series against Pakistan, which gets going at Sabina Park today at 10 a.m.
The contest, which represents the 50th time the West Indies will be facing the Pakistanis, as well as the 50th time a Test match is being played at the venue, will see the West Indies looking to improve on their international ranking.
Having struggled to post series wins against established opponents in recent years, the former world number-one West Indies are currently ranked eight on the International Cricket Council’s Test Championship table.
Pakistan, are currently ranked fifth in the 10-team championship.
“This series is very important for us, as it represents another opportunity to see how far along we have come as a unit,” said Holder, following the team’s final training session at the venue yesterday.
“It’s an emerging and talented team that we have, and judging by our performances in the last series we played I believe we are on the right trajectory.
“We just have to continue to build on the strides that we have made and bring it together at the right time.’’
The West Indies, who lost the preceding one-day and Twenty20 International series to the visitors, will enter the contest on the back of a victory in their last Test against their opponents.
That encounter ended with the West Indies prevailing by five wickets albeit it was not good enough to stop them from losing the series 2-1.
ALTERNATE HOME VENUE
The matches were played in the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan’s alternate home venue given security concerns in their country.
During that series, the West Indies batting was led by Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels, two players who are out of today’s match.
Samuels, earlier this week, explained that he has taken an indefinite break from the longest format of the game while Bravo has been overlooked. He has failed to apologise for an offensive tweet in which attacked West Indies Cricket Board president Dave Cameron.
The absence of the duo has thus left the team with a number of emerging batsman, who are now being asked to stake their claims as the main standard bearers going forward.
At the top of this list are openers Kraigg Brathwaite and Kieran Powell.
The 24-year-old Brathwaite has an average 37.52 from 34 Tests, while 27-year-old Powell, who is set to make a return to the starting line-up after a selfimposed two-year break following a drop from the team two years ago, averages 27.28 from 21 games.
Brathwaite has recorded five centuries and 12 half-centuries and Powell three hundreds and two fifties.
The next most experienced batsman in the 13-member squad is 25-year-old Jermaine Blackwood, who averages 31.33 from 22 outings with one century and nine fifties.
“Samuels and Bravo will be missed, but we have guys who have showed that they can perform at this level,’’ outlined Holder.
The West Indies bowlers will be encouraged by a grassy pitch and the selectors could go for three pacers and a spinner with their frontline bowlers the back from injury Shannon Gabriel, his new ball counterpart, the young Alzarri Joseph, and legspinner Davendra Bishoo.
BATTING DUO TO LEAD
Pakistan, in the meantime, will look to the experienced batting duo of Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan, who are playing in their farewell series, to spearhead their batting.
The 42-year-old Misbah, set for his 73rd Test, averages 45.85 while 39-year-old Khan, having played 115 Tests and is 23 runs away from becoming the first Pakistani to past 10,000 runs, averages an impressive 53.06.
West Indies squad: Kraigg Brathwaite, Kieran Powell, Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer, Vishaul Singh, Jermaine Blackwood, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich (wk), Jason Holder (capt), Devendra Bishoo, Alzarri Joseph, Shannon Gabriel and Miguel Cummins. Pakistan squad: Azhar Ali, Ahmed Shehzad, Babar Azam, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Hasan Ali.