Pakistan tour to West Indies 2021 [Preview]
Pakistan is all set to tour West Indies in the month of July and August to play five T20Is and two-match Test series. Kieron Pollard will be hoping that the side can continue their winning streak against Pakistan in the T20I series.
The side will have new faces coming into the squad for the Test series against West Indies. Shahnawaz Dhani, Abdullah Shafique, Saud Shakeel, Sajid Khan and Zahid Mehmood have earned their call-ups to the national side following their excellent performances in the domestic first-class season.
In the batting department, the onus will be on the opening pair of Imran Butt and Abid Ali to get the side off to a good start. The openers will be looking to do well on their first trip to the Caribbean.
There is no doubt that opener Mohammad Rizwan has produced phenomenal numbers for Pakistan in the 20-over format and will be keen to continue his good form in the five-match T20I series against West Indies.
Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman will make up the top-order for India for this five-match T20I series.
All-rounder Shadab Khan will be keen to produce his best cricket with bat and ball in this series. Besides Imad Wasim, Mohammad Hafeez and Faheem Ashraf can provide utility with bat and ball in the five-match series.
Debutant Shahnawaz Dhani is another new addition to the pace bowling department. He can certainly bowl quick and showed a lot of promise with the ball while playing in the Pakistan Super League. Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf will be prominent pace options for the side for this T20I series.
On the other hand, West Indies will be looking to start their home series on a positive note. Captain Kieron Pollard will be hoping that his experience side can deliver a decent show with the bat and ball against Pakistan.
The likes of Nicholas Pooran, Andre Fletcher and Shimron Hetymer are promising players that will need to deliver runs for the side in this T20I series.
In the bowling department, the onus will be on the likes of Jason Holder, Sheldon Cottrell, Dwayne Bravo and Obed McCoy to deliver crucial breakthroughs. Fidel Edwards and Oshane Thomas are experienced pacers in the T20I squad for the five-match series.
Kevin Sinclair, Fabian Allen, Hayden Walsh Jr and Akeal Hosein are four spinners included in the T20 squad.
The opening two matches will be played at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados on 27th and 28th July respectively. The third, fourth and five games will be played at Providence Cricket Stadium in Guyana on 31st, 1st and 3rd August respectively.
After the culmination of the five-match T20I series, Babar Azam’s Pakistan will take on West Indies in a three-match Test series that starts from 12th August. The first game will be played at Sabina Park in Jamaica on 12th August. The second and final game of the series will be played at the same venue from 20th till 24th August.